Nanotechnology

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what research his Department has funded on  (a) ethical,  (b) environmental and  (c) social issues relating to the (i) use and (ii) safety of (A) nanotechnology and (B) nanoproducts; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills' delivery partners, the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board, funded through the science and research, and innovation budgets respectively, support a portfolio of research and related activities on a wide range of aspects of nanotechnology. I have arranged for a document with details to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It is not possible to divide the research into the categories requested, but, where possible, an indication has been given as to whether the research is addressing environmental, social, use or safety issues. The Government placed a statement about nanotechnologies in the Libraries on 28 February 2008 (House of Lords Hansard, column WS86 refers).
	The Government regards nanotechnologies as an important issue, and has established a ministerial group chaired by the Minister for Science and Innovation to support their development in a responsible way.

Research: Small Businesses

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress has been made on the commitment in the Innovation Nation White Paper to extend the revised Small Business Research Initiative to all participating departments by April 2009.

David Lammy: As stated in 'Innovation Nation', the revised format for SBRI has been prototyped with pilot competitions by the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health. Each Department ran two competitions in 2008, and each competition elicited a number of innovative responses from industry, demonstrating that the programme, in its revised form, has considerable potential to benefit departments as well as innovative companies. Experience from these pilots is being used to define the standard process, documentation, and support infrastructure needed for broader deployment, and to demonstrate the value of SBRI as a powerful innovation mechanism.
	The Technology Strategy Board, which manages the SBRI programme, is engaging with Departments to identify and define further opportunities for the use of SBRI over the next three years. A £10 million competition with the Department for Communities and Local Government will be launched in March. The competition will encourage companies to demonstrate ways of improving the environmental sustainability of existing buildings. The Ministry of Defence, the Department of Health, and the Department for Transport also have advanced plans for SBRI competitions in 2009.

Council Housing: Waiting Lists

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people are on local authority housing waiting lists in  (a) St Albans and  (b) Hertfordshire; and what the equivalent figures were (i) five and (ii) 10 years ago.

Iain Wright: Information is available on numbers of households rather than people. The number of households registered on local authority housing waiting lists in each local authority, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The latest available data is at April 2008. The link for this table is as follows:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/table600.xls
	Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. The number of households on local authorities' waiting lists in St. Albans and Hertfordshire is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of households on the council house waiting list (excludes  households looking  for transfers) 
			   April 1998  April 2003  April 2008 
			 St. Albans 1,758 1,764 1,521 
			 Hertfordshire 18,601 19,677 26,891 
			  Source:  Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) 
		
	
	Further information on the number of households on the local authority housing waiting lists for England, can be found in the statistical release "Local Authority Housing Statistics England: 2007-08: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA)
	and Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA)" This was published on 22 January 2009 on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/lahousing200708
	Copies of the statistical release and live table have been deposited in the Library.
	Not everyone on the local authority waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move house—particularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time. The size of the waiting list is not an indicator of absolute need, it is only useful as a broad indicator of housing demand in an area.

Housing: Low Incomes

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to increase the availability of affordable housing in  (a) Reading and  (b) the Thames Valley region.

Iain Wright: We are committed to a substantial increase in affordable housing. The long-term aspiration is to deliver 70,000 affordable homes a year in England by 2010-11. These affordable homes will be funded mainly by the Homes and Communities Agency established last year to improve the effectiveness of housing delivery.
	The Growth programme funds infrastructure to support housing growth. Within the Thames Valley Reading, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury Vale and Didcot will receive a total of £21 million in 2009-10 from growth programmes. In addition in Reading the Homes and Communities Agency has committed to funding over 800 new affordable homes this year. Across the rest of the Thames Valley investment through the Homes and Communities Agency is due to deliver a further 1,200 affordable homes this year.

Members: Correspondence

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to reply to the letters of 3 December 2008 and 30 January 2009 from the hon. Member for Forest of Dean on the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, reference FD9865.

Sadiq Khan: I replied to the hon. Member's correspondence on 23 February 2009.

Non-domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each of the Humber ports paid in business rates in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005,  (c) 2006,  (d) 2007 and  (e) 2008; and for how much each such port is liable in respect of each year since 2005 following the new assessments made in 2008.

John Healey: The Department does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for billing and collection of rates from individual businesses.

Non-domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has for the administration of the scheme to enable businesses to pay backdated rates bills over eight years in relation to  (a) port and  (b) other businesses; whether her Department has issued instructions to local authorities on the claiming of arrears; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the Exchequer of the payment scheme.

John Healey: The Department has issued a Business Rates Information Letter (BRIL 2/2009) on the policy for a schedule of payments, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. I have also written to the leaders of billing authorities confirming that the legislation has been put in place. The impact of the policy is set out in the impact assessment which was laid before this House on the 10 February accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2009 (SI 204).

Roscommon Way Extension

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the environmental impact of the Roscommon Way Extension, Canvey Island.

Margaret Beckett: As part of the Community Infrastructure business Case requirements and owing to the value of the Roscommon Way Extension scheme (ie in excess of £10 million) the Departments for Transport and Communities and Local Government requested that Essex county council complete a full 'Major Schemes Business Case'. This was subsequently submitted in May 2008. It contained an initial environmental assessment which included noise, air quality, landscape, townscape, heritage, biodiversity and water environment analyses. Building on this assessment, the county council has submitted a planning application which includes a detailed environmental impact assessment, which proposes a raft of mitigation measures including invertebrate relocation, avoidance of water courses and careful landscaping to minimise the noise impact.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information is contained in the following table. The data reflect information currently held on the Department's personnel computer system.
	
		
			  Number of employees absent for more than 12 months on 31 December 
			   Staff  Percentage of all staff employed 
			 2008 85 0.07 
			 2007 209 0.16 
			 2006 139 0.10 
			 2005 142 0.09 
			 2004 284 0.17

Disadvantaged: Finance

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding was allocated by his Department under the deprived areas fund to each local authority in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 5 February 2009
	No funding was allocated by DWP to local authorities in 2006-07 or 2007-08 under the deprived areas fund.
	In 2006-07 the deprived areas fund was allocated direct to district managers in Jobcentre Plus.
	In 2007-08 the deprived areas fund was allocated directly to district managers in
	Jobcentre Plus and to 15 city strategy pathfinders. However, some pathfinders elected to receive their deprived areas fund via a nominated local authority acting as their lead accountable body. Allocations are shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Jobcentre Plus district  2006-07 Jobcentre Plus districts  2007-08, Jobcentre Plus districts (non-cities)  2007-08 City strategy areas by district 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 98,877 313,000 0 
			 Essex 71,305 226,000 0 
			 Norfolk 69,404 222,000 0 
			 Cambridgeshire and Suffolk 58,946 189,000 0 
			 Derbyshire 173,034 537,000 0 
			 Leicestershire and Northamptonshire 292,828 79,576 816,424 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland 91,271 287,000 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 402,163 186,998 1,046,002 
			 West London 373,640 0 1,143,000 
			 Central London 438,291 1,349,000 0 
			 City and East London 1,463,187 21,218 4,461,782 
			 Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth 905,103 2,780,000 0 
			 North and North East London 934,576 2,034,549 828,451 
			 South London 598,965 1,405,983 428,017 
			 Northumbria 533,365 0 1,633,000 
			 South Tyne and Wear Valley 810,030 527,309 1,953,691 
			 Tees Valley 518,153 1,596,000 0 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 59,897 193,000 0 
			 Cumbria 134,054 418,000 0 
			 Greater Mersey 574,246 0 1,759,000 
			 Liverpool and Wirral 791,966 0 2,427,000 
			 Lancashire 509,596 1,167,223 392,777 
			 Greater Manchester Central 803,374 0 2,459,000 
			 Greater Manchester East and West 422,128 0 1,293,000 
			 Ayrshire, Dumfries, Galloway and Inverclyde 436,389 1,344,000 0 
			 Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders 160,675 97,897 394,103 
			 Forth Valley, Fife and Tayside 405,966 793,303 448,697 
			 Glasgow 946,936 0 2,898,000 
			 Highlands, Islands and Clyde Coast and Grampian 365,084 1,125,000 0 
			 Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire 442,094 1,361,000 0 
			 Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire 47,537 26,000 0 
			 Hampshire 47,537 110,000 0 
			 Kent 89,369 280,000 0 
			 Surrey and Sussex 86,517 274,000 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 83,665 265,000 0 
			 Dorset and Somerset 47,537 89,000 0 
			 Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swindon 47,537 128,000 0 
			 West of England 96,025 301,000 0 
			 South Wales Valleys 922,217 1,233,587 1,588,413 
			 North and Mid Wales 186,345 492,035 79,965 
			 South East Wales 290,926 789,746 101,254 
			 South West Wales 486,778 1,491,000 0 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 821,438 0 2,515,00C 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 90,320 0 277,00C 
			 Staffordshire 81,764 257,000 C 
			 The Black Country 463,961 0 1,419.00C 
			 The Marches 0 0 63,00C 
			 North East Yorkshire and The Humber 301,384 932,000 0 
			 South Yorkshire 538,118 0 1,647,000 
			 West Yorkshire 685,483 2,105,000 0 
			 Totals 19,300,000 27,027,424 32,072,576 
			  Source:  DWP Areas Initiatives and Communities Division 
		
	
	
		
			  2007-08 City strategy pathfinder allocations 
			 Blackburn with Darwin(1) 392,777 
			 Leicester(1) 816,424 
			 Liverpool(1) 4,186,000 
			 Greater Manchester(1) 3,752,000 
			 South Yorkshire(1) 1,647,000 
			 Nottingham(1) 1,046,002 
			 Tyne and Wear(1) 3,586,691 
			 Dundee 448,697 
			 Glasgow 2,898,000 
			 Edinburgh 394,103 
			 Heads of the Valleys 1,689,667 
			 Rhyl 79,965 
			 Birmingham Black Country and Coventry 4,274,000 
			 East London 5,718,250 
			 West London 1,143,000 
			 Total 32,072,576 
			 (1) These pathfinders each elected to receive their DAF via a nominated local authority acting as their lead accountable body  Source:  DWP Areas Initiatives and Communities Division

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what sanctions would apply if an individual refused to participate in  (a) a substance-related assessment,  (b) an interview,  (c) other relevant tests and  (d) rehabilitation plans under provisions contained in Schedule 1 (a) of the Welfare Reform Bill.

Tony McNulty: Under current plans the sanctions that will apply will be similar to those in place for refusing to take the steps necessary to tackle other barriers to work. Currently, for failing to comply with a Jobseeker Direction, the claimant will incur two weeks benefit loss in the first instance, followed by four and 26 weeks loss for repeated failure to comply. Those on employment and support allowance can lose up to half of the work related activity component of their benefit for four weeks if they fail to meet with conditionality requirements. If they still fail to cooperate they can lose their work related activity component in full.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have been in receipt of jobseeker's allowance but no longer qualify for it  (a) have found employment,  (b) are still unemployed and  (c) are registered as unemployed; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The total number of people leaving jobseeker's allowance is decreasing in line with the numbers claiming jobseeker's allowance. The number of people leaving with an unknown destination recorded has increased over the last ten years. This is because the completion levels of the JSA40 (forms filled in by people leaving jobseeker's allowance) have decreased over this period. This should be taken into account when interpreting these statistics, as many of these 'unknown' leavers will have moved into employment or other benefits.
	The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Destination of claimants leaving jobseekers allowance—2008 
			  Destination  Claimants 
			 Employment 914,690 
			 Other benefit (excludes those reaching retirement age) 170,185 
			 Education/training 228,530 
			 Other known destinations 155,715 
			 Not known 1,083,635 
			 Total 2,552,735 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. The question does not specify any time period; total claimants leaving jobseeker's allowance during 2008 have been supplied. 3. Number of leavers moving into employment includes claimants who increased their employment hours beyond 16 per week. 4. Most of those moving onto other benefits will still be out of work. 5. Other known destinations include gone abroad, reached retirement age, gone to prison, deceased, new claim review or defective claim.  Source: 100 per cent. Count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire to the Prime Minister of 18 December 2008, transferred to him for reply, on the winter fuel allowance.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 February 2009.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to answer the letters from the hon. Member for Edinburgh West of 22 September 2008 and 17 November 2008 on the case of the hon. Member's constituent, Joe Shepherd.

Jonathan R Shaw: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 October 2008 in reply to his letter of 22 September 2008, and 18 December 2008 in reply to his letter of 17 November 2008.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when  (a) he,  (b) his Ministers and  (c) officials from his Department next plan to meet bidders for Flexible New Deal contracts to discuss the tendering process;
	(2)  what changes have been made to the timetable for the tendering process for providers bidding for Flexible New Deal contracts; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  when he plans to publish the list of the preferred bidders for the flexible New Deal contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 There are no current plans to meet with bidders for flexible new deal contracts.
	We wrote to bidders for flexible new deal contracts on 11 February, to provide them with the information we had planned to give them at a meeting on 6 February, which did not take place due to adverse weather conditions.
	We have notified providers that, by the time phase 1 contracts start in October 2009, we now believe customer volumes will be higher than those published in the invitation to tender (ItT). To enable us to jointly consider the impact and options to address the financial challenges in the initial phase of the contract, there will be a short pause in the competition. We remain committed to beginning delivery of flexible new deal from October and will inform bidders who have been shortlisted in April, with contracts being awarded by the end of May 2009.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the number of people who will be referred to providers of the Flexible New Deal in each of the next two years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made for the purposes of the Flexible New Deal contract of the number of people who will have been out of work for more than 12 months by October 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 The Department does not forecast future long-term unemployment or the future number of claimants of jobseeker's allowance.
	The Government remain committed to bringing forward the flexible new deal and on 30 January 2009 a letter was issued to short-listed bidders in the flexible new deal competition to help them draw up plans that are capable of withstanding a wide range of possible developments in the labour market over the next three to five years. This includes the possibility that customer volumes by the time phase 1 contracts go live in October 2009 could be up to 300 per cent. higher than those published in the original invitation to tender. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.

New Deal Schemes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the flexible New Deal contracts go live dates will be delayed as a result of the suspension of the tendering process.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Government remains committed to bringing in phase 1 of the flexible new deal from October 2009.

Pensioners: Winter Fuel Payments

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners who reached the age of 80 in 2008 have not qualified for winter fuel payments because their birthday was later than 15 September 2008.

Rosie Winterton: Winter fuel payments of £200 (£250 for 2008-09) are available to eligible people who are aged 60 or over by the qualifying week (15-21 September for winter 2008-09). Where an eligible person is aged 80 or over in this qualifying week, they will receive an amount of £300 (£400 for 2008-09).
	The estimated number of pensioners in Great Britain who reached the age of 80 in 2008, and would not have qualified for the increase in winter fuel payments because their birthday was later than the qualifying week, is around 87,000. The September qualifying week is used to ensure that payments can be made before Christmas. If the qualifying period were to be extended or a later week used, the payment exercise could not be completed in time for the payments to be available when they are most needed. Whichever qualifying week is used, there will always be people who just miss out.
	 Notes
	1. An estimate of the number of people turning 80 in the calendar year 2008 has been derived from the 2006-based national population projections for Great Britain from the Office for National Statistics.
	2. The estimated number of pensioners in Great Britain who reached the age of 80 in 2008, and would not have qualified for the increase in winter fuel payments, are those who turned 80 between 22 September and 31 December 2008.
	3. This estimate was rounded to the nearest 1,000 individuals.
	4. The estimate does not include those people living in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.
	5. The winter fuel payments rates quoted in the answer are for full rate payments. Where there is more than one eligible person in a household people may receive a shared payment.
	 Source
	DWP and The Office for National Statistics

Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of pension funds which invest in mortgage-backed securities; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available are as follows.
	The Purple Book 2008 produced by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and the Pensions Regulator covers most PPF-eligible defined benefit pension schemes.
	Mortgage backed securities are not recorded as a separate item within the Purple Book data and are grouped under the category 'Other'. This category includes several separate asset classes.
	The category 'Other' constitutes 3.7 per cent. of total scheme assets, and 17 per cent. of schemes hold assets from this category.
	As mortgage backed securities are grouped together with other classes of asset they will only be a very small fraction of the 3.7 per cent. of total assets within the category.

Social Security Benefits

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many apparent benefit claimants also appear on the mortality and bereavement register; and how much has been paid in benefits to such claimants in each of the last four years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 The Department for Work and Pensions has arrangements in place to receive daily notification of death registration data from the Office for National Statistics. Such data is then matched against benefit and pension records to identify deaths which have not otherwise been reported direct to the Department for Work and Pensions. The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect information about the number or amount of overpayments identified from this specific source of data matching.

Social Security Benefits: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of families in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire who have received benefits as a result of the Government's policy on welfare reform.

Tony McNulty: Information is not available on the number of families in receipt of benefits.
	Active intervention is key and at no time is this more important than in economic slowdowns. If it is becoming harder to find work, it is right that we do more to help, not less. This is why we are moving people from inactive benefits to the active regime of jobseeker's allowance if this will help them, even if this means an increase in the jobseeker's allowance count in the short term.
	We strongly believe that the welfare state should combine rights with responsibilities. Our welfare reforms have been built on this foundation, that in order to receive support during periods of unemployment people should be actively seeking work or making efforts to move closer to work.
	Our reforms have resulted in high numbers of people in work throughout the country, and have put an end to the rise in the number of people claiming incapacity benefits. We remain committed to further reform to reduce welfare dependency and support more people into work, provide greater support and control for disabled people and strengthen parental responsibility.
	Previous experience has taught us that the worst thing we can do in a downturn is to write people off, consigning them to a lifetime on benefits. We are investing an additional £1.3 billion over the next two years to support Jobcentre Plus and our employment programmes; and a further £0.5 billion to guarantee more support to people unemployed for six months or more by providing incentives for firms to hire, access to help in setting up a business, extra funding for training and opportunities for work-focused volunteering.
	Our Welfare Reform programme will allow us to bring about the most radical reform of the welfare state for generations. Our reforms promise greater support for people on benefits and a more flexible, personalised system to help them find sustainable employment. In return we expect people to take up this help, and work with us to help themselves. The Welfare Reform Bill will take the primary powers needed to complete the transformation of the welfare state, turning it from being essentially passive to profoundly active.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefits applicants resident in  (a) Aylesbury and  (b) Milton Keynes were required to take a medical examination in each year since 2000; and how many of those examinations were undertaken in (i) Luton, (ii) Aylesbury and (iii) Euston.

Tony McNulty: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of benefit customers resident in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes who have been required to take a medical examination in each year since 2000 
			   Aylesbury postcodes  Milton Keynes postcodes 
			 2000 1,830 2,914 
			 2001 2,118 2,678 
			 2002 1,925 3,071 
			 2003 1,818 2,515 
			 2004 1,982 2,838 
			 2005 2,422 3,545 
			 2006 2,033 2,816 
			 2007 2,992 3,662 
			 2008 2,430 3,302 
			 2009 305 355 
			  Source: Medical Services 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of customers with Aylesbury postcodes (HP1-24 and HP27) and the examination centres where their examination took place 
			   Aylesbury MEC  Luton MEC  Euston MEC  Marylebone MEC 
			 2000 1,494 14 322 — 
			 2001 1,797 83 238 — 
			 2002 1,796 79 50 — 
			 2003 1,762 24 32 — 
			 2004 1,929 11 42 — 
			 2005 2,212 152 58 — 
			 2006 1,804 202 — 27 
			 2007 2,255 725 — 12 
			 2008 1,788 637 — 5 
			 2009 222 83 — — 
			  Note: Euston Medical Examination Centre closed in 2005. All customers previously referred to Euston where transferred to Marylebone Medical Examination Centre in 2006.  Source: Medical Services 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of customers with Milton Keynes postcodes (MK1-19, MK 21, MK23, MK40-46) and the examination centres where their examination took place 
			   Aylesbury MEC  Luton MEC  Euston MEC  Marylebone MEC 
			 2000 1,485 1,391 38 — 
			 2001 602 2,008 68 — 
			 2002 1,082 1,964 25 — 
			 2003 1,153 1,339 23 — 
			 2004 1,311 1,484 43 — 
			 2005 1,806 1,696 43 — 
			 2006 1,496 1,309 — 11 
			 2007 2,303 1,353 — 6 
			 2008 1,685 1,615 — 2 
			 2009 183 172 — — 
			  Source: Medical Services

Vocational Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps the Government have taken to assist those returning to work from long periods of unemployment.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Government are doing everything it can to help those who become unemployed back into work as quickly as possible. We recognise that extra support is needed during the downturn, and a range of new help is being made available to jobseekers.
	We are investing an extra £1.3 billion to ensure that through Jobcentre Plus we can continue to provide personal help and advice to everyone who needs it—help in finding a job, filling in job applications and writing a CV plus advice on re-training and acquiring new skills.
	We also know the scarring effects of long-term unemployment both on individuals and on communities. It is important that the Government learn from the mistakes of previous recessions and by doing everything we can to prevent people who lose their jobs slipping inevitably into long-term unemployment. To address this we are investing a further £0.5 billion to ensure the support available to people who lose their jobs increases the longer a person is unemployed. The package of support for people who are still unemployed after six months includes: employer "Golden Hellos" of up to £2,500 to recruit and train people; support to set up a new business along with funding for the first months of trading; additional training places to help people develop work-related skills; and more opportunities to volunteer where this will help a person move towards work.
	And we are pressing ahead with our welfare reforms from this year that will increase support for unemployed people as their claim to benefit continues. We are creating a new contract for job seekers, promising help with skills and with employability.

Vocational Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps the Government has taken to help those aged over 50 years to re-enter the labour market.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Government already provide back-to-work support for those wishing to re-enter the labour market, including those aged 50 and over, through Jobcentre Plus, Local Employer Partnerships, the New Deal and Pathways to Work. We intend to extend this as detailed in the Welfare Reform Bill.
	However, in response to the current economic downturn the Government have already committed £0.5 billion additional support to help prevent people out of work from becoming long-term unemployed.
	We have doubled the resources available to the Rapid Response Service. The service offers support across the country for those people facing redundancy with immediate help and advice, including skills assessments and retraining, to ensure that people get back to work as soon as possible.
	From April, financial incentives of up to £2,500 will be available to employers that recruit and train people who have been unemployed for six months or longer.
	In addition we have introduced extra funding for training places to help unemployed people get new skills to maximise their chances of getting jobs from the 500,000 vacancies in the economy, opportunities to volunteer to help people back into work habits and help to start a business with advice on creating a business plan, plus funding for the first months of trading.
	A major factor in the employment of older people is employer behaviour. In addition to providing generic good practice guidance to employers, the UK's Age Positive initiative is working in partnership with business leaders to develop sector-based models of flexible retirement to support the increased employment and retention of older workers and the removal of fixed retirement ages.

Welfare Reform Bill

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what resources will be made available during the first full year of the implementation of the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill for the requirement of drug users to  (a) attend interview to answer questions,  (b) undertake substance-related assessment,  (c) undertake relevant tests and  (d) undertake rehabilitation plans, as set out in Schedule 1(a) to the Bill.

Tony McNulty: We aim to pilot and evaluate the new approach to employment support for problem drug users set out in the Welfare Reform Bill in a small number of Jobcentre Plus districts. The detail of those pilots, including any additional resources that will be made available, is still in development at this early stage.

Care Proceedings

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many applications for care proceedings there have been since 1 November 2008; and what effect this has had on the appointment of guardians.

Beverley Hughes: Cafcass received 590 care applications (Section 31) in November 2008 and 714 in December 2008.
	This increase in demand has had an effect on the allocation of guardians. In November 2008, 73 per cent. of Section 31 applications were allocated to guardians within two days and in December 2008, this figure was 66.9 per cent. Both of these figures met the current target which is that 65 per cent. of cases should be allocated within two days.
	To respond to demand Cafcass has put a duty guardian scheme in place so that urgent work is covered, and a solicitor for the child is always appointed in each case to look after a child's interests.

Children: Obesity

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what initiatives the Government has introduced for children of pre-school age to reduce levels of childhood obesity in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The "Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives" strategy, published in January 2008, set out the Government's plan to reduce obesity, initially focusing on children. Every child should grow up eating well and enjoying being active and we want parents to have the knowledge and confidence to make this happen. There is no single, simple solution to reducing rates of overweight and obesity and therefore Government are taking action on a number of fronts.
	At a national level, the Government are promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The updated Child Health Promotion Programme was published in March 2008. It prioritises obesity prevention and physical activity by promoting positive parenting during pregnancy and the early years of children's lives. We are working to support as many mothers as possible to breastfeed and to continue to breastfeed for longer—helped by children's centres, health and other services, all promoting healthy weight. The Healthy Start initiative provides free vitamin supplements, vouchers for milk, fruit and vegetables for low-income pregnant women and children up to age four.
	The introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage for 0 to five-year-olds means that all early years education providers must promote the good health of children, by providing healthy, nutritious food and active play. The Play Strategy, launched in December 2008, sets out how Government will invest £235 million over 2008-09 to 2010-11 to develop play facilities for children of all ages. Ofcom have introduced restrictions on advertising foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to children.
	At a local level, primary care trusts, working with local authorities, are responsible for co-ordinating work to tackle childhood obesity. PCT plans, developed alongside local authority children and young people's plans, will feed into local area agreements agreed with the Government offices. Local areas will develop and implement their own initiatives based on local needs and circumstances. 130 LAs have chosen to include in their local area agreement at least one child obesity indicator from the National Indicator Set.
	All this is supported by the Change4Life movement at a national and local level which aims to help families eat well, move more and live longer and which is initially focused on families with young children. Change4Life is working with a range of commercial and voluntary sector partners, signing up to play their part and deliver concrete commitments to change both nationally and locally.

Children: Obesity

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what initiatives his Department has introduced to reduce childhood obesity among children of pre-school age in the London Borough of Bexley.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The "Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives" strategy, published in January 2008, set out the Government's plans to reduce obesity, initially focussing on children. Every child should grow up eating well and enjoying being active and we want parents to have the knowledge and confidence to make this happen. There is no single, simple solution to reducing rates of overweight and obesity and therefore Government are taking action on a number of fronts.
	At a national level, the Government are promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The updated child health promotion programme was published in March 2008. It prioritises obesity prevention and physical activity by promoting positive parenting during pregnancy and the early years of children's lives. We are working to support as many mothers as possible to breastfeed and to continue to breastfeed for longer—helped by children's centres, health and other services, all promoting healthy weight. The healthy start initiative provides free vitamin supplements, vouchers for milk, fruit and vegetables for low income pregnant women and children up to age four.
	The introduction of the early years foundation stage for 0-5 year olds means that all early years education providers must promote the good health of children, by providing healthy, nutritious food and active play. The play strategy, launched in December 2008, sets out how Government will invest £235 million over 2008-09 to 2010-11 to develop play facilities for children of all ages. Ofcom have introduced restrictions on advertising foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to children.
	At a local level, primary care trusts, working with local authorities, are responsible for coordinating work to tackle childhood obesity. PCT plans, developed alongside local authority children and young people's plans, will feed into local area agreements agreed with the Government offices. Local areas will develop and implement their own initiatives based on local needs and circumstances. 130 LAs have chosen to include in their local area agreement at least one child obesity indicator from the National Indicator Set.
	All this is supported by the Change4Life movement at a national and local level which aims to help families eat well, move more and live longer and which is initially focussed on families with young children. Change4Life is working with a range of commercial and voluntary sector partners, signing up to play their part and deliver concrete commitments to change both nationally and locally.

Children: Protection

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each region were not allocated a social worker in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each region have not been allocated a social worker since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each London borough were not allocated a social worker in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each London borough have not been allocated a social worker since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each region was in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each London borough was in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each region has been since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each London borough has been since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Department does not collect this information. We recognise, however, the critical importance of effective frontline social work to outcomes for children. That is why the Government are investing nearly £73million over the next three years in a package of proposals to improve social workers' capacity and skills. As part of this package, we have just announced plans to establish a social work taskforce to lead a nuts and bolts review of frontline social work practice that will inform further improvements in social worker training, recruitment and leadership.

Children: Protection

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to his statement of 11 December 2008,  Official Report, column 777, on serious case review numbers, when he expects to provide the information referred to.

Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, provided the information requested in a letter to the hon. Member on 3 February.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on salaries for frontline children's social workers by each local authority in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: Social workers are directly recruited by their employers. The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not collect information on how much employers spend on salaries for frontline children's social workers. In their Children's, Young People's and Families Social Care Pay and Workforce Survey 2007, the local government analysis and research group estimated that the basic salary for social workers in England and Wales (mean) was £28,389.

Critical Thinking: Education

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils were entered for an AS level or higher examination in critical thinking in  (a) maintained schools and  (b) independent schools in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Academic Year  Number of entries( 1)  in A or AS level Critical Thinking in maintained schools( 2)  Number of entries1 in A or AS- level Critical Thinking in independent schools 
			 2003-04 5,865 1,249 
			 2004-05 8,586 1,975 
			 2005-06 12,569 2,498 
			 2006-07 15,366 2,664 
			 2007-08 14,789 2,150 
			 (1) Entries by 16-18 year olds (2) Figures for maintained schools do not include entries in further education colleges  Source:  Achievement and Attainment Tables

Free School Meals: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children received free school meals in the London Borough of Bexley in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The numbers of children taking free school meals in the London borough of Bexley, in each of the last five years, are shown in the following statistical releases.
	Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England: January 2008 (Provisional):
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/index.shtml
	(tables16 and 17).
	Schools and Pupils in England: January 2007 (Final):
	www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000744/index.shtml
	(tables 19 and 20).
	Schools and Pupils in England: January 2006 (Final):
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000682/index.shtm
	(tables 19 and 20).
	Schools and Pupils in England: January 2005 (Final):
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000606/index.shtml
	(tables 19 and 20).
	Statistics of Education Schools in England 2004 Edition:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000495/index.shtml
	(tables 13 and 14).

Marriage Guidance

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how much of the money allocated through the Children, Young People and Families Grant 2008-09 constituted spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in his Department's document Moving Forward Together (Marriage and relationship support covers help, advice or information that helps people to establish and maintain successful relationships with their partners? Foreword: Moving Forward Together, a Proposed Strategy for Marriage Support for 2002 and Beyond, April 2002);
	(2)  how much of the money allocated through the Children, Young People and Families Grant 2009-10 as announced on 24 December 2008 is for the purpose of spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in his Department's document Moving Forward Together (Marriage and relationship support covers help, advice or information that helps people to establish and maintain successful relationships with their partners? Foreword: Moving Forward Together, a Proposed Strategy for Marriage Support for 2002 and Beyond, April 2002).

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 12 February 2009
	 In 2008-09 £3.2 million of grant funding was allocated through the Children, Young People and Families grant programme for the purpose of spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in the Department's document Moving Forward Together.
	In 2009-10 £3.8 million of grant funding will be awarded through the Children, Young People and Families grant programme as announced on 24 December 2008 for the purpose of spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in the Department's document Moving Forward Together.

National Curriculum Tests: Disadvantaged

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of 
	(1)   (a) all children,  (b) children in the five per cent. most deprived areas and  (c) children in the 10 per cent. most deprived areas achieved the national standard in the Key Stage 1 assessments in each year since 1997;
	(2)   (a) all children,  (b) children in the five per cent. most deprived areas and  (c) children in the 10 per cent. most deprived areas achieved the national standard in Key Stage 1 (i) reading, (ii) writing, (iii) mathematics and (iv) science assessments in each year since 1997;
	(3)  children in receipt of free school meals achieved the national standard in all Key Stage 1 assessments in each year since 1997;
	(4)  children in receipt of free school meals achieved the national standard in Key Stage 1  (a) reading,  (b) writing,  (c) mathematics and  (d) science assessment in each year since 1997.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families publishes most of this data annually. Data for 2007/08 can be found in the Statistical First Release: Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2007/08, which can be found at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000822/index.shtml.

Pupil Exclusions: Suffolk

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children attending schools in Suffolk between the ages of four and 11 years were suspended from school in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04. In 2005/06 the method of data collection changed and information was collected from secondary schools only. In 2006/07 data were also collected from primary and special schools. The available information is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2) , pupils aged four to 11 receiving one or more episodes of fixed period exclusion( 3) , Suffolk LA 2003/04 to 2006/07 
			   Number of pupils with one episode or more of fixed period exclusion  As a percentage of the school population( 4) 
			 2003/04 660 0.65 
			 2004/05 590 0.58 
			 2005/06(5) 410 0.75 
			 2006/07 650 0.65 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Includes maintained primary, secondary and special schools. For 2003/04 and 2004/05 excludes CTCs and academies (3 )Pupils aged as at 31 August at the beginning of the school year. (4 )The number of pupils with a fixed period exclusions expressed as a percentage of the headcount of pupils in January each year, excluding dual registrations. (5 )Data for 2005/06 excludes primary and special schools, information for secondary schools only is shown.  Source.  Termly Exclusions Survey.

Pupil Referral Units

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupil referral units are in special measures; and in which local authority areas those units are.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 23 January 2009
	There are 10 pupil referral units currently in special measures and are as follow:
	
		
			   Units 
			 Cumbria 1 
			 Hampshire 2 
			 Havering 1 
			 Leicestershire 1 
			 Norfolk 1 
			 Poole 1 
			 Staffordshire 1 
			 Walsall 1 
			 West Sussex 1 
			  Source: EduBase

Pupils: Absenteeism

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will change the formula for calculating attendance statistics for schools to prevent schools being penalised in the event of pupils not attending as a result of adverse weather conditions.

Jim Knight: The Government believe that every lesson counts and it is right that schools should stay open wherever reasonably practicable during severe weather conditions, subject to health and safety considerations. If some of a school's pupils whose home is not within walking distance of the school get to school by transport that is provided by the school or a local education authority, and that transport is not available because of adverse weather conditions, then if the school stays open, those pupils should be marked using code Y (forced and partial closure). Code Y does not count as absence in the statistics. All other children should be expected to attend and should be recorded as present/absent as normal. Our data do not enable us to alter the formula in any way that would isolate the absences due to inclement weather, or even for the days concerned—we only have total numbers of absences for each term and cannot isolate particular days (or even weeks). This does mean that the absence percentage for a school that stays open may be higher than if it had closed if significant numbers of pupils are unable to attend. However, our main focus is on persistent absence (which we define as missing 20 per cent. or more of possible sessions). It is unlikely that persistent absence would be significantly affected by short periods of adverse weather. Moreover when looking at attendance, Ofsted inspectors look at trends over time. When looking at registers, if there appear to be specific days or periods of time when there is high absence inspectors will discuss with the school the reasons for it. Similarly the national strategies will take account of such circumstances in their support and challenge work on persistent absence with LAs and schools.

Schools: Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what steps the Government is taking to protect Jewish schoolchildren from anti-Semitic attacks by other schoolchildren; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the incidence of  (a) bullying and  (b) intimidation of Jewish students in schools since December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Schools are under a legal duty to promote race equality and it is compulsory for schools to have measures in place to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying, whatever the motivation. In March 2006 we published specialist guidance on bullying around race, religion and culture which focused on preventing and tackling racist and religious bullying in schools and included specific material on bullying related to anti-Semitism. We are funding the Anti-Bullying Alliance and national strategies to ensure the guidance is effectively embedded in local authorities and schools, and are monitoring the situation closely.
	We have also published a toolkit to help schools contribute to the prevention of violent extremism. The toolkit includes advice on how to protect pupils from violent extremism, manage risks and respond to incidents locally, nationally or internationally that might have an impact on the school community.
	We do not collect data on bullying or incidents of intimidation centrally although we are aware that Jewish pupils can be particularly vulnerable to bullying. We intend to introduce a new statutory duty on schools to record all incidents of bullying between pupils later this year, and will specifically consult on whether schools should be obliged to record racist incidents.

Schools: Health Education

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to inform school children of the adverse effects of  (a) smoking and  (b) alcohol abuse.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Currently all schools should teach pupils about the effects of smoking and alcohol abuse, as part of drug education, through a well planned programme of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. The Department's guidance, "Drugs: Guidance for Schools" (DfES 2004) sets out in broad terms what should be covered in each key stage.
	We announced our intention to make PSHE education statutory in October 2008, in recognition of the key role it plays in equipping children and young people with the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy and successful lives. At the same time we launched an independent review of how this might be achieved in the most effective and practicable way. Sir Alasdair Macdonald, the headteacher of Morpeth school in Tower Hamlets, is conducting the review and will report in April 2009. Proposals for the statutory implementation of PSHE will be the subject of a full public consultation.
	We cannot expect drug and alcohol education on its own to "solve the drug problem" in this country. That is why we are also increasing our focus on intervening with families at risk and continue to improve the support and treatment that the vulnerable young people who are most likely to develop a problem need.
	We need parents and Children's Services to join with schools and colleges to raise awareness amongst young people of the risks and impacts of drug and alcohol use.
	It is important that government presents information to young people in ways that they find accessible. For that reason, on 29 January 2009, we launched a consultation on 'Children, Young People and Alcohol' alongside the chief medical officer's guidance on 'safer drinking' to find out what information and advice parents and young people would find useful to inform their decisions about young people's drinking and to help reduce harms caused by it.

Special Educational Needs: Pupil Exclusions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2117W on special educational needs: pupil exclusions, what the equivalent figures were for each year since 1997.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04.
	In 2005/06 the method of data collection changed and information was collected from secondary schools only. We have consequently provided information for the school years 2003/04 and 2004/05, the only years for which comparable figures are available.
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools( 1) : number of fixed period exclusions by special educational needs and by reason for exclusion 2003/04—England 
			   Pupils with SEN 
			 Physical assault against a pupil 7,470 
			 Physical assault against an adult 3,970 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against a pupil 1,270 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult 3,910 
			 Bullying 510 
			 Racist abuse 180 
			 Sexual misconduct 170 
			 Drug and alcohol related 80 
			 Damage 550 
			 Theft 220 
			 Persistent disruptive behaviour 8,830 
			 Other 1,910 
			 Total(2) 29,090 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes two exclusions where the reason cannot be determined.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools( 1) : number of fixed period exclusions by special educational needs and by reason for exclusion 2004/05—England 
			   Pupils with SEN 
			 Physical assault against a pupil 7,990 
			 Physical assault against an adult 4,510 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against a pupil 1,430 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult 4,360 
			 Bullying 440 
			 Racist abuse 230 
			 Sexual misconduct 190 
			 Drug and alcohol related 70 
			 Damage 650 
			 Theft 230 
			 Persistent disruptive behaviour 9,070 
			 Other 1,430 
			 Total 30,590 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census

Special Educational Needs: Young Offender Institutions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 2263-64W, on special educational needs: young offender institutions, what the source was of the figure provided by the Learning and Skills Council for the number of young people in juvenile accommodation in young offender institutions referred to special educational needs co-ordinators.

Beverley Hughes: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) collects monthly returns from the educational providers with whom they contract to deliver learning and skills provision within juvenile young offender institutions. The providers are required to provide data returns, including information on the number of young people referred to the special educational needs co-ordinators, to the LSC on a monthly basis.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December in each of the last five years.

Kevan Jones: Numbers of MOD civilian staff who have been continuously absent for over 12 months due to sickness on 31 December for each of the last four years are given as follows:
	
		
			   Number of staff with at least 12 months sick absence as at 31 December 
			 2005 140 
			 2006 170 
			 2007 180 
			 2008 170 
			  Notes: 1. These figures are derived from the HRMS system which excludes staff in trading funds, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and locally engaged civilians. They have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Numbers are not given for 31 December 2004, as data were still being migrated to the system during this year.

Falkland Islands: Warships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the performance of J.A.Gardner and Company in providing the Coastal Re-Supply Service in the Falkland Islands since 1982;
	(2)  for what reason the Royal Navy has declined to award a new Falkland Islands Coastal Re-Supply Service contract to J.A.Gardner and Company;
	(3)  whether the Royal Navy sent representatives to the Falkland Islands to assess the work of J.A.Gardner and Company in operating the Coastal Re-Supply Service before the decision not to renew the firm's contract was taken.

Bob Ainsworth: The MOD currently operates two shipping contracts in the Falklands Islands: one with J and A Gardner who provides coastal re-supply services; and the other with Van Wijngaarden Marine Services B V, who carry out harbour support. Both companies provide a satisfactory service.
	As the contracts with both companies are coming to an end, a decision has been made to merge both the coastal re-supply and harbour support services under one requirement rather than renew both contracts. This will deliver value for money for the taxpayer. In accordance with MOD and EU commercial regulations, the requirement was competed last year and both J and A Gardner and Van Wijngaarden submitted proposals along with a number of other companies. All the bids were evaluated on an equitable basis against declared technical and commercial evaluation criteria.
	The tender evaluation panel was made up of MOD civilian personnel, some of whom visited the Falkland Islands on a number of occasions and who have, therefore, built up a good working knowledge of the requirement. The views of MOD personnel based on the Islands, who are responsible for the day to day operation of the service, were also obtained.
	The contract was awarded to Van Wijngaarden, as theirs was the most technically advantageous and affordable proposal, on 23 January 2009 with service commencement on 1 April 2009.

HMS Vanguard

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received from the First Sea Lord on the recent collision between HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant; whether the crew of HMS Vanguard sustained any injuries; whether he plans to commission an inquiry into the incident; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Two submerged SSBN, one French and the other UK, were conducting routine national patrols in the Atlantic Ocean. The two submarines came into contact at very low speed. Both submarines remained safe and no injuries occurred. I can confirm that the UK's deterrent capability has remained unaffected at all times and there has been no compromise to nuclear safety. HMS Vanguard returned safely to Faslane under her own power on 14 February.
	As you would expect, the MOD takes this incident very seriously and a thorough review is under way. We will act on any lessons that might be identified.

Veterans Day: Plymouth

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for Plymouth to participate in Veterans Day on 27 June 2009.

Kevan Jones: We are greatly encouraged that, along with many other towns and cities across the country, Plymouth city council are planning to hold an Armed Forces Day event on 27 June 2009. Armed Forces Day builds on the success of previous Veterans Day events and is intended to provide an opportunity for the whole nation to celebrate our armed forces, past, present and future. We expect that the veteran's community, which includes all those who have served in the armed forces, widows and bereaved relatives of those who served and Merchant Mariners who saw duty on military operations, will remain very much at the centre of events.
	Plymouth city council applied to the Ministry of Defence for a grant of £10,000 to assist towards the cost of their armed forces and veterans week and this has been awarded, together with the provisional allocation of a military band and a fly past from a DC3 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to support an memorial event planned for 28 June on Plymouth Hoe.

NGOs

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to introduce annual headquarter grants to non-governmental organisations which fall within his Department's area of responsibility.

Kevin Brennan: Government support for the sector have never been stronger, which is why we have committed £60 million to support strategic partnerships with third sector organisations. Over 5 years from 2006-11 we will provide core funding to a range of national and regional organisations. This type of grant funding offers real financial stability to our strategic partners, whilst enabling the views of the sector on the development of Government policy to be heard.

Social Mobility

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent progress has been made in implementing the measures announced in the social mobility White Paper; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The measures announced in the New Opportunities White Paper are for implementation between January 2009 and spring 2011.
	There were three measures announced that were for implementation prior to today, all of which have been implemented on time.
	The Cabinet Office are monitoring ongoing delivery by departments.

Social Entrepreneurs

Rob Marris: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to increase the number of social entrepreneurs.

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, what steps he is taking to increase the number of social entrepreneurs.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave earlier today.

Voluntary Sector

Robert Flello: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what funding his Department is providing to voluntary sector organisations working to assist deprived communities in 2008-09.

Liam Byrne: The Government are investing in deprived communities who need real help now. The third sector plays a vital role as a safety net and springboard for people in need and in recognition of this, investment by the Government in the third sector has doubled since 1997 to a total of £11 billion a year.
	Two weeks ago, the Government launched the "Real Help for Communities Action Plan", which provides a further £42.5 million from April 2009 to help volunteers, charities and social enterprises deliver more real help to that that need it most.
	This included the £15.5 million community resilience fund, targeted at areas most at risk of increasing levels of deprivation die to the recession.

Transport Network Resilience

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his responsibilities are for coordination of action across Government to ensure the resilience of the transport network.

Tom Watson: Responsibility for the provision of resilient transport services rests primarily with the owners and operators of those services. Within government, the Department for Transport and, where appropriate, the devolved administrations work with the regulators, owners and operators to ensure, as appropriate, that standards are in place and effective contingency arrangements exist.
	The Cabinet Office has departmental responsibility for the generic local response framework within England and Wales, including responsibility for the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The Cabinet Office will, where appropriate, also provide support to the lead department on cross-cutting issues in an emergency as part of the Cabinet Office's wider role of supporting effective Government and collective ministerial responsibility.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer of 2 June 2008,  Official Report, column 614W, on apprentices, what progress has been made in increasing the number of apprentices in the Cabinet Office; and how many apprentices his Department currently employs.

Tom Watson: The Department now employs four apprentices as part of the Government's pathfinder project. As part of the Department's Skills Strategy, there is a firm commitment to increase the number of apprentices to 20 by March 2010.

Cabinet: Visits

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what the cost of the Cabinet visit to Leeds was; and what the cost of  (a) staff time,  (b) staff travel,  (c) staff accommodation,  (d) ministerial travel,  (e) ministerial accommodation,  (f) hire and additional costs of venue,  (g) publicity,  (h) security and  (i) cost associated ministerial visits;
	(2)  what the cost of the Cabinet visit to Liverpool was; and what the cost of  (a) staff time,  (b) staff travel,  (c) staff accommodation,  (d) ministerial travel,  (e) ministerial accommodation,  (f) hire and additional costs of venue,  (g) publicity,  (h) security and (i) associated ministerial visits was.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 29 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 738-39W .

Departmental Lobbying

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether Ministers in his Department received representations from  (a) Lord Moonie,  (b) Lord Taylor of Blackburn,  (c) Lord Snape and  (d) Lord Truscott in the last seven months.

Liam Byrne: We have no record of receiving any representations to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or his Ministers from Lord Moonie, Lord Taylor of Blackburn, Lord Snape or Lord Truscott in the last seven months.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East, of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 270-1W, on departmental public relations, in which areas of work or projects the external public relations firms were engaged; and for what reasons in-house communications staff were not used in each instance.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	This Department used companies from the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework for the following areas of work in the last three full financial years:
	
		
			  Company  Area of work  Amount spent (£) 
			  2007-08( 1)   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 172,630.27 
			 GCI Employing People campaign 30,030 
			 Total  202,660.27 
			
			  2006-07( 2)   
			 Fishburn Hedges DTI Gap analysis 9,071 
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 163,642 
			 GCI Business Link 179,113 
			 Total  351,826 
			
			  2005-06   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 76,240 
			 GCI Small Business Service 105,786 
			 Harrison Cowley Consumer Direct 239,050 
			 Wright Communication Consumer Direct 32,694 
			 Total  453,770 
			 (1 )April to June 2007 as DTI and BERR from June 2007. (2 )Spend by the former DTI.  Note:  These costs are inclusive of COI fees. 
		
	
	In all cases, PR agencies were employed to carry out work for which there was no available in-house resource. PR campaigns by their nature are time-limited and so it would not be cost-efficient to retain staff internally to run them. Contracting outside agencies also enables the Department to gain external specialist expertise as well as supporting the creative industries. PR contracts are placed taking account of Cabinet Office Propriety Guidance.

Public Sector: Pensions

Rudi Vis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 December 2008,  Official Report, columns 111-2WS, on guaranteed minimum pension calculations, how the errors in payments in some public service pensions were discovered.

Liam Byrne: As part of its management and control of the Civil Service pension arrangements Cabinet Office commissioned an exercise to check data held by its pensioner payroll contractor with Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) data. This exercise highlighted the fact that GMP information was missing for a small proportion of Civil Service pensioners. Other public service schemes have commissioned similar checks and have discovered that they are also affected by this issue.

Unemployment

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 500-1W, on the unemployed, how many people aged 16 to 24 years were unemployed in each region  (a) in each year since 1997 and  (b) in each of the last eight quarters.

Kevin Brennan: h olding answer 12 February 2009
	 The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 200 9 :
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, columns 500-1W, on unemployed, how many people aged 16 to 24 years were unemployed in each region (a) each year since 1997 and (b) in each of the last eight quarters. (256672)
	The requested information is shown in the attached table. Estimates for October-December 2008 have also been included as these have become available since the previous answer was provided.
	The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. Consequently the estimates from Q3 2006 are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release, which are weighted using more up-to- date population estimates.
	
		
			  Unemployed people aged 16-24, by region, Quarter 3 1997 to 2006; all calendar quarters from quarter 4 2006 to quarter 4 2008, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand 
			North East  North West  Yorkshire and Humberside  East Midlands  West Midlands  Eastern  London 
			 1997 Q3 39 93 60 42 74 54 118 
			 1998 Q3 34 87 67 44 61 46 105 
			 1999 Q3 44 84 56 53 65 46 85 
			 2000 Q3 45 74 61 44 63 35 99 
			 2001 Q3 29 74 49 40 59 54 99 
			 2002 Q3 28 69 63 40 73 47 97 
			 2003 Q3 39 80 52 43 74 46 105 
			 2004 Q3 36 76 60 40 80 48 118 
			 2005 Q3 44 78 64 42 63 49 117 
			 2006 Q3 42 96 81 62 86 59 122 
			  
			 2006 Q4 29 81 71 59 72 49 99 
			  
			 2007 Q1 33 78 67 61 68 51 93 
			 2007 Q2 37 78 60 49 72 51 96 
			 2007 Q3 40 106 68 66 85 72 104 
			 2007 Q4 29 87 64 51 54 48 100 
			  
			 2008 Q1 30 82 52 56 64 54 95 
			 2008 Q2 36 85 72 57 64 58 96 
			 2008 Q3 50 120 95 69 82 63 116 
			 2008 Q4(1) ***42 **112 ***72 ***50 **80 ***63 **110 
		
	
	
		
			  Thousand 
			South East  South West  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  Total 
			 1997 Q3 74 40 38 69 23 724 
			 1998 Q3 74 47 43 72 19 698 
			 1999 Q3 64 37 38 63 (2)— 651 
			 2000 Q3 58 38 39 64 (2)— 631 
			 2001 Q3 64 39 32 69 20 628 
			 2002 Q3 74 41 30 72 17 649 
			 2003 Q3 75 36 34 70 (2)— 669 
			 2004 Q3 68 40 36 62 (2)— 681 
			 2005 Q3 81 46 37 66 (2)— 701 
			 2006 Q3 88 49 38 60 (2)— 797 
			 
			 2006 Q4 72 45 39 50 (2)— 676 
			 
			 2007 Q1 73 51 33 51 (2)— 669 
			 2007 Q2 75 39 42 62 (2)— 675 
			 2007 Q3 98 53 38 60 (2)— 806 
			 2007 Q4 92 34 30 57 (2)— 663 
			 
			 2008 Q1 70 40 28 56 (2)— 642 
			 2008 Q2 76 35 29 54 (2)— 676 
			 2008 Q3 96 52 49 55 (2)— 864 
			 2008 Q4(1) **92 ***48 ***49 ***55 ****(2)— *793 
			 (1)( )Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described below: (2) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV - for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.  Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical robustness  * 0 = CV [le] 5 Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 = CV [le] 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise. *** 10 = CV [le] 20 Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV = 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes.  Note: It should be noted that the estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc).

Broadband: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimates he has made of the cost of ensuring that every household in Wales can receive high speed broadband services.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 4 February 2009
	This Department has not made any assessment of the costs of such action. However, the Welsh Assembly government launched a programme of activities to transform broadband availability and take up across Wales in 2002. The Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme provided funding to upgrade 35 telephone exchanges in Wales, making broadband available to an additional 7,500 premises.
	They are shortly to announce the awarding of a contract to look further into this "not spot" issue and how best to address it. This followed on from a registration scheme it set up to enable those who cannot access broadband to register their demand for broadband. To date there are over 1,400 registrations.

Departmental Manpower

Greg Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff were employed in his Department's Energy Change Group on 1 October 2008.

Patrick McFadden: On the 1 October 2008, 536 full-time equivalent staff were employed in the Department's Energy Group.

Departmental Pay

Theresa May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many bonuses were awarded to senior civil servants working at his Department and its agencies in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; and what was spent on such bonuses in each of those years.

Patrick McFadden: The former Department of Trade and Industry (up to June 2007) and the Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform paid non-consolidated non-pensionable performance awards to staff in the senior civil service to reward delivery of business objectives and personal contributions to wider organisational goals. Performance related awards are part of the pay system across the whole senior civil service, and are used to reward high performance sustained throughout the year, based on a judgement of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers.
	The performance related pay scheme is designed to help drive high performance and support better public service delivery.
	
		
			   Number of SCS awarded performance bonuses  Total amount (£) 
			 2007 143 (1)1,126,000 
			 2008 141 (2)1,211,500 
			 (1) 7.6 per cent. of the SCS paybill (2) 8.6 per cent. of the SCS paybill 
		
	
	The senior salaries review body (SSRB) makes recommendations each year for the amount departments may allocate to bonuses. In 2007 the median bonus was £6,000; in 2008 the median was £6,250.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 270-1W, on departmental public relations, on which projects the external public relations and marketing companies worked; and for what reasons the work was not undertaken by departmental staff in each case.

Patrick McFadden: This Department used companies from the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework for the following areas of work in the last three full financial years:
	
		
			  Company  Area of work  Amount spent (£) 
			  2007-08( 1)   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 172,630.27 
			 GCI Employing People campaign 30,030 
			 Total  202,660.27 
			
			  2006-07( 2)   
			 Fishburn Hedges DTI Gap analysis 9,071 
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 163,642 
			 GCI Business Link 179,113 
			 Total  351,826 
			
			  2005-06   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 76,240 
			 GCI Small Business Service 105,786 
			 Harrison Cowley Consumer Direct 239,050 
			 Wright Communication Consumer Direct 32,694 
			 Total  453,770 
			 (1) April to June 2007 as DTI and BERR from June 2007. (2) Spend by the former DTI.  Note: These costs are inclusive of COI fees. 
		
	
	In all cases, PR agencies were employed to carry out work for which there was no available in-house resource. PR campaigns by their nature are time-limited and so it would not be cost-efficient to retain staff internally to run them. Contracting outside agencies also enables the Department to gain external specialist expertise as well as supporting the creative industries. PR contracts are placed taking account of Cabinet Office Propriety Guidance.

Departmental Recruitment

Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many new recruits his Department took on in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07,  (c) 2007-08 and  (d) 2008-09; how many of these were taken on as (i) permanent, (ii) temporary and (iii) agency staff; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures for (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2010-11.

Patrick McFadden: The number of new recruits(1) that joined the Department for the financial years requested are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Year joined 
			  Status type  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Permanent(2) 72 52 70 73 
			 Temporary(3) 48 29 41 66 
			  
			 Total 120 81 111 139 
			 (1) New recruits represent staff that have joined BERR or its predecessor DTI and excludes our executive agencies. (2) Permanent new recruits are staff employed by the department on a permanent civil service contract. (3) Temporary new recruits are staff that have been recruited on a short term or fixed term civil service contract. 
		
	
	With respect to estimates for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11, we cannot give forecasts of future staff recruitment as this is dependant on the needs of the business which at present is fluid.
	Agency staff are new recruits that have joined the Department but are not on a civil service contract and are employed by a third party. The arrangements for employing agency staff in the Department are delegated locally to line management units. To provide such information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 27 November 2008 on his constituent, Mr. Russ Harrington of Broomfield, Chelmsford.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 12 February 2009
	I responded to the hon. Member on 5 February 2009.

Care Proceedings: Applications

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for care proceedings were made by local authorities in England and Wales in each month of  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008.

Bridget Prentice: The number of public law care and supervision applications under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 from April 2007 to December 2008 are shown in the following table. Public law cases are those brought by local authorities or an authorised person (currently only the NSPCC). Figures relate to the number of children that are subject to each application, are for England and Wales, and have been rounded to the nearest 10. Please note that 2008 figures remain subject to change, particularly the later months of the year.
	The majority of applications are made in Family Proceedings Courts (FPCs). There have been data quality issues with figures for FPCs, and a new method of data collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the quality and level of recording on previous years. Prior to April 2007 the collection was on a quarterly basis, meaning that monthly data are not available.
	Comparisons between short time periods (one or two months) as presented in this table should be made with caution as these figures are subject to more volatility than those covering longer time periods.

Cemeteries: Safety

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1291-2W, on the Department for Constitutional Affairs Cemetery and Burials Advisory Group, what progress has been made in the review of the compensation culture referred to in the minutes of the Advisory Group meeting of 9 March 2006.

Bridget Prentice: Following publication of the Better Regulation Task Force's 2004 report "Better Routes to Redress", the Department took forward a programme of work to tackle perceptions of a "compensation culture" and to improve the compensation system for those with valid claims. One strand of this work related to risk management, which was the subject of the discussion at the Burial and Cemeteries Advisory Group. A number of initiatives were undertaken by individual Departments, including the production of guidance by the Health and Safety Executive on simplifying risk assessments, and this Department facilitated workshops aimed at improving understanding of issues relating to risk, involving other Departments, insurers, local government, the voluntary sector and other sectors.

Convictions

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in England are estimated to have an unspent conviction.

Maria Eagle: The information is not available.
	Centralised police national computer (PNC) data only goes back to 2000, with incomplete data available for 1997-99 and no centralised data available from before 1997. As prison sentences of over six months remain unspent for 10 years, and prison sentences of over 30 months never become spent, the data available would not provide an accurate indicator of the total number of individuals with unspent convictions in England today.
	Moreover, data on whether convictions are spent or not is not routinely collected. It is only obtained when required for operational purposes (e.g. when a disclosure certificate is being prepared, or an individual is calculating whether they have to disclose a conviction). To produce a response to the question, even limited to the years for which there is central data, could therefore be done only at disproportionate cost.

Coroners

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of coroners' inquests likely to be held without a jury on the grounds of  (a) national security,  (b) the relationship between the United Kingdom and another country,  (c) preventing or detecting crime,  (d) protecting the safety of a witness or other person and  (e) otherwise preventing real harm to the public interest, under clause 11 of the Coroners and Justice Bill, during the first year of operation of the legislation.

Bridget Prentice: At present, less than 2 per cent. of inquests are held with a jury (in 2007, 540 out of 30,841, or 1.75 per cent.), and we anticipate that only a very small number of those cases, perhaps one or two each year, will be affected by Clause 11 of the Coroners and Justice Bill. It is not possible to speculate which limbs of the definition these one or two cases will fall under.

Coroners

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions an inquest has been closed without a recorded verdict in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: An inquest may be adjourned under section 16 of the Coroners Act 1988 pending the outcome of criminal proceedings for a homicide offence relating to the death. An inquest may be adjourned under section 17A of the 1988 Act where there is a judicial public inquiry into the death and the Lord Chancellor considers that the cause of death will be adequately investigated by the inquiry. In section 16 cases, the coroner will only resume the inquest after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings if in his opinion there is "sufficient reason" to do so. In section 17A cases, the coroner will only resume the inquest after the public inquiry if in his option there is "exceptional reason" to do so.
	The number of inquests which were adjourned and not resumed by coroners in England and Wales prior to a verdict being reached, in each year between 2003 and 2007, is provided in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003 908 
			 2004 943 
			 2005 1,008 
			 2006 956 
			 2007 926 
		
	
	Statistics for 2008 are not yet available, but are due to be published on the Ministry of Justice website in May in the National Statistics bulletin: "Statistics on deaths reported to coroners, England and Wales"

Cremation: Standards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1291-2W on Department for Constitutional Affairs Cemetery and Burials Advisory Group, and the minutes of the meeting of the Advisory Board on 25 February 2008, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of supply of  (a) coffins,  (b) crematorium services and  (c) funeral services in the event of pandemic influenza.

Bridget Prentice: Following the Advisory Group meeting on 25 February 2008, the Home Office published 'Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic: A Framework for Planners Preparing to Manage Deaths' on 22 May. This provides guidance for local planners on providing cremation and funeral services in these circumstances. We have since been working with representatives of the funeral industry and coffin manufacturers to explore existing supply arrangements and options to increase capacity if necessary. This work continues.

Debt Collection

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many homes have been subject to forced entry by bailiffs under the provisions of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 in each year since those provisions were implemented.

Bridget Prentice: Since the introduction of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 the power to force entry has been used to execute warrants of arrest by magistrates court civilian enforcement officer's (CEO's) on 386 occasions and to execute warrants of distress by private bailiffs contracted to Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) on two occasions. HMCS does not have a breakdown for each of the individual years available.

Debt Collection

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 870W, on debt collection: parking offences, 
	(1)  whether his Department plans to bring forward proposals to amend the law relating to bailiffs to extend rights to bailiffs to have a forced power of entry in relation to unpaid parking fines;
	(2)  when he expects the new powers of forced entry for bailiffs under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to be  (a) commenced and  (b) implemented.

Bridget Prentice: The enforcement provisions in the tribunals, court and Enforcement Act 2007 are far reaching reforms. The provisions have recently undergone a comprehensive reassessment by Ministers to ensure that they remain appropriate even under this difficult financial climate. This assessment has now concluded and a statement will be made shortly.

Debts: Court Orders

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) third party debt,  (b) interim charging and  (c) final charging orders were made by courts in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the numbers of interim and final third party debt orders and charging orders made in the county courts of England and Wales in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Number of interim and final third party debt orders( 1)  and charging orders( 2)  made in the county courts of England and Wales 2004—08( 3) 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 3) 
			 Interim third party debt orders 6,217 6,551 6,428 6,364 7,349 
			 Final third party debt order 1,836 1,826 1,828 1,813 2,038 
			 Interim charging orders 45,847 66,451 92,366 130,463 164,185 
			 Final charging orders 33,235 49,218 67,090 97,026 135,663 
			 (1) Third party debt orders secure payment by freezing and then seizing money owed or payable by a third party to a debtor. (2) Charging orders obtain security for the payment against a property owned by the debtor. (3) Figures for 2008 are provisional.

Departmental Translation Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many language translators are employed in each of his Department's executive agencies; and what the cost of translating services provided by such people was in the latest period for which information is available.

Jack Straw: HMCS does employ one translator within the Welsh Language Unit. Where other services are required, they are secured as and when required. Individuals providing those services are not directly employed by the MOJ.
	Translator costs for HMCS and NOMS (excluding HMPS and probation service) are detailed as follows.
	
		
			  Financial year 2007-08  £ 
			 HMCS 200,000 
			 NOMS HQ 8,906 
		
	
	Tribunals are unable to differentiate between the cost of translators and interpreters. Therefore, the total cost of those services in 2007-08 £6,058,000.
	Information for Her Majesty's Prison Service and the probation service are not held centrally and are available only at disproportionate cost.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  which local authority electoral registration departments  (a) do and  (b) do not use bar coding on their electoral registration forms;
	(2)  how many local authorities have a  (a) Plain English Campaign award and  (b) Charter Mark certificate for their electoral registration forms.

Michael Wills: A prescribed canvass form is available to all local authorities for the purpose of the annual canvass. The MOJ has not applied for this form to be awarded the Plain English Campaign but will consider doing so. The design of rolling registration forms is a matter for electoral registration officers.
	Charter Mark is awarded to organisations who successfully pass an accreditation process but there is no certification process for registration forms. Local authorities with Charter mark status may endorse the charter mark emblem on any of their publications; it is not known how many print it on their canvass forms.
	Information on which local authorities use bar coding on their registration forms is not collected centrally and to do so now would result in disproportionate costs, as we would need to contact every local authority.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the demographic profile of those people who are most likely not to be registered to vote; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: As my hon. Friend, the Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to a similar question from my hon. Friend on 26 June 2008,  Official Report, column 474W, the Government have not commissioned or evaluated any specific research on the demographic profile of people who are most likely not to be registered to vote. However, the Government do utilise some existing research concerning the attitudes and motivations of the electorate, as commissioned by the then Department of Constitutional Affairs in 2005, as a basis for further work towards identifying an evidence base for policy development and service targets in the electoral field.
	The Electoral Commission found in their report, 'Understanding Electoral Registration', published in September 2005, that the most likely electors not to be registered to vote included young people, those residing in private rented accommodation and those belonging to certain minority ethnic groups.
	Information arising out of the evidence base and the Electoral Commission's report were used to mount a registration campaign in London for 18 to 24-year-olds and to inform work on registration, which fed into various measures in the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

Electronic Commerce: EC Law

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1171W, on homophobia, what compliance issues with the EU e-commerce Directive remain to be resolved.

Jack Straw: The E-commerce Directive requires us to apply the offence to domestically established electronic service providers when they provide their services in other European economic area states.
	In order to do this, we intend to make regulations under the European Communities Act 1972. But, as the offence relating to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment, we need powers to create penalties greater than those permitted by section 2(2) of that Act. Clause 123 of the Coroners and Justice Bill will amend the 1972 Act to allow us to do this.

HM Courts Service: Pay

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what financial settlement was reached with the former Chief Executive of HM Courts Service at the end of his tenure.

Jack Straw: Details of the financial settlement reached with the former chief executive, HM Courts Service is available in the public domain as detailed in the Ministry of Justice's resource account 2007-08.
	Sir Ron De Witt left the Department on 14 December 2007. He received a lump sum compensation payment upon the date of his departure of £405-£410,000. This included a special severance payment of £130-135,000.

Magistrates' Courts

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times magistrates courts hearings in each district have had to be postponed because the prosecution case paperwork was incomplete or misdirected in the last 12 months.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice does not hold information centrally concerning how many times hearings in each district have been postponed due to prosecution casework being incomplete or misdirected and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	However, figures for the prosecution's administrative lack of readiness in relation to vacated and ineffective trials are shown in the following table by Local Criminal Justice Board area. The data are gathered as part of the joint ineffective and vacated trial monitoring exercise and relies on the accurate recording of reasons that may, over time, be subject to amendment.
	Nationally, the data for January to December 2008 shows that 4.3 per cent. of all vacated trials were vacated because of reasons associated to the prosecution's administrative lack of readiness. In relation to ineffective trials, the reasons associated to the prosecution's lack of readiness led to 1.7 per cent. of all trials being ineffective.
	Despite these relatively low figures, the Crown Prosecution Service has introduced a number of significant changes to its working practices to improve the effectiveness of its work in the magistrates' courts. These are under an initiative known as the 'Optimum Business Model' (OBM). The OBM comprises nine recommendations, the key element being the introduction of proactive case progression teams that ensure cases are ready in advance of the court hearing. OBM has focused on eliminating waste and duplication, streamlining processes and improving timeliness. It has been implemented across 40 of the 42 CPS areas to date and considerable benefits have been gained not least in the improved timeliness of the prosecution review of cases, in better rates of readiness for trial and responses to correspondence. A system has been introduced to record numbers of adjournments and the reasons why they occurred which is currently under review. Early indications show a reduction of adjournments overall in line with the introduction of criminal justice simple speedy summary (CJSSS) processes and the contribution of OBM.
	
		
			  Details of Prosecution-related administrative lack of readiness by area January-December 2008—covering vacated and ineffective trials in magistrates courts 
			   Vacated trials  Ineffective trials 
			  Local criminal justice board area  Prosecution not ready: prosecution not ready for trial, further preparation needed  Total vacated trials  Percentage of total vacated trials vacated because prosecution not ready for trial, further preparation needed  Prosecution not ready: served late notice of additional evidence on defence  Prosecution not ready: Other  Total prosecution-related reasons relating to administrative readiness  Total trials (including ineffective trials  Percentage of total trials ineffective because of prosecution reasons related to administrative readine s s 
			 Avon and Somerset 32 737 4.3 11 20 31 2,751 1.1 
			 Bedfordshire 32 851 3.8 7 17 24 2,224 1.1 
			 Cambridgeshire 4 250 1.6 1 5 6 1,597 0.4 
			 Cheshire 21 735 2.9 7 20 27 3,136 0.9 
			 Cleveland 27 873 3.1 11 25 36 2,668 1.3 
			 Cumbria 26 894 2.9 4 35 39 1,742 2.2 
			 Derbyshire 41 1,073 3.8 22 51 73 4,261 1.7 
			 Devon and Cornwall 31 826 3.8 14 23 37 2,615 1.4 
			 Dorset 50 719 7.0 3 30 33 2,277 1.4 
			 Durham 50 951 5.3 13 28 41 1,516 2.7 
			 Dyfed Powys 8 468 1.7 1 11 12 992 1.2 
			 Essex 85 1,187 7.2 26 104 130 4,540 2.9 
			 Gloucestershire 4 429 0.9 3 21 24 1,594 1.5 
			 Greater London 412 6,151 6.7 126 546 672 32,273 2.1 
			 Greater Manchester 96 2,066 4.6 66 144 210 10,658 2.0 
			 Gwent 11 674 1.6 8 18 26 1,847 1.4 
			 Hampshire and loW 69 2,204 3.1 15 50 65 5,462 1.2 
			 Hertfordshire 15 1,560 1.0 11 51 62 4,217 1.5 
			 Humberside 27 631 4.3 5 27 32 2,365 1.4 
			 Kent 83 1,313 6.3 14 56 70 5,123 1.4 
			 Lancashire 59 1,951 3.0 25 60 85 6,466 1.3 
			 Leicestershire 13 392 3.3 14 30 44 3,386 1.3 
			 Lincolnshire 18 783 2.3 6 22 28 1,673 1.7 
			 Merseyside 59 1,385 4.3 25 57 82 5,800 1.4 
			 Norfolk 38 714 5.3 9 15 24 1,785 1.3 
			 North Wales 25 900 2.8 13 25 38 2,194 1.7 
			 North Yorkshire 35 798 4.4 8 17 25 1,632 1.5 
			 Northamptonshire 15 192 7.8 4 8 12 1,843 0.7 
			 Northumbria 149 2,123 7.0 27 98 125 7,299 1.7 
			 Nottinghamshire 94 1,482 6.3 20 80 100 4,356 2.3 
			 South Wales 96 1,674 5.7 27 76 103 4,486 2.3 
			 South Yorkshire 46 1,622 2.8 21 46 67 4,461 1.5 
			 Staffordshire 31 812 3.8 15 44 59 3,588 1.6 
			 Suffolk' 32 603 5.3 5 8 13 915 1.4 
			 Surrey 18 559 3.2 2 28 30 2,661 1.1 
			 Sussex 70 1,521 4.6 5 30 35 4,282 0.8 
			 Thames Valley 26 1,357 1.9 20 70 90 6,264 1.4 
			 Warwickshire 5 133 3.8 1 2 3 493 0.6 
			 West Mercia 32 996 3.2 13 42 55 4,093 1.3 
			 West Midlands 66 3,030 2.2 62 173 235 13,225 1.8 
			 West Yorkshire 62 1,370 4.5 23 87 110 7,105 1.5 
			 Wiltshire 27 296 9.1 3 24 27 1,637 1.6 
			 England and Wales 2,140 49,285 4.3 716 2,324 3,040 183,502 1.7

National Offender Management Service: Redundancy

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total monetary value of all redundancy packages given to regional offender managers is.

Jack Straw: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) appointed regional offender managers (ROMS) as commissioners of services. As a result of structural changes in NOMS, Directors of Offender Managers have now been appointed (due to be announced imminently). The ROMs will remain in post until 31 March 2009. The role will then end as the new structure to come into place. The expectation is that there will be no redundancies as a result of this change as our objective is to redeploy the ROMS into other roles.

Prisoners Release

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been released early in error in the last five years; for what offences they were serving sentences; what the length of the original sentence was in each case; how long each had left to serve on release; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: It is a mandatory requirement that prisons check the correctness of the calculation of a prisoner's release date 14 days and two days before release. At this point, a check is also made to ensure that there is no other reason a prisoner should be detained in custody, such as, if they are remanded to custody on further charges or held on immigration matters. Additionally, re-calculations and checks are also carried out, during the course of the sentence should a prisoner be transferred from one establishment to another. Prison Service Order 6650 provides details of the sentence calculation checks required.
	The number of known releases in error are reported to the national operations unit in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) by prison establishments. The number of releases reported is as follows:
	
		
			   Number of releases in error (RIEs) reported  Total number of prisoner discharges  Percentage of discharges that are RIEs 
			 2005 32 84,500 <0.04 
			 2006 36 78,535 <0.05 
			 2007 36 77,146 <0.05 
			 2008 57 n/a — 
			 n/a = Not available. 
		
	
	Information on how early the release was in each case and the details of the offences is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of releases in error remains very small as a percentage of total discharges (less than 0.05 per cent. in 2007, the last year for which discharge figures are currently available) and must be viewed in the context of increased prisoner movement to accommodate the rising population.

Protection of Badgers Act 1992

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the length is of each custodial sentence, other than suspended sentences, handed down under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 since the Act came into force; and when each such sentence was handed down;
	(2)  how much has been received in fines imposed under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in each year since its entry into force; and how the receipts have been allocated;
	(3)  how many persons prosecuted under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 received custodial sentences, other than suspended sentences, in  (a) each year since 2006 and  (b) 2009 to date.

David Hanson: The available information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Sentences imposed for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992—1993 to 2007 
			1993  1994  1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001 
			  Fines imposed   
			 Cruelty to badgers Average fine amount (£) 355 272 465 266 .516 478 — 283 213 
			  Number of offenders fined 14 12 13 6 3 4 — 3 4 
			  Sum of fines imposed (£) 4,970 3,264 6,045 1,596 1,548 1,912 — 849 852 
			
			 Not giving up dog for destruction(1) Average fine amount (£) 51 167 240 200 183 51 41 51 49 
			  Number of offenders fined 9 3 5 2 3 6 14 11 27 
			  Sum of fines imposed (£) 459 501 1,200 400 549 306 574 561 1,323 
			
			  Lengths of immediate custodial sentences   
			 All offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Up to 3 months 1 5 — — 1 — 2 — — 
			  Include 3 up to 6 months 1 1 3 5 9 — 2 — — 
			  Total custodial sentences 2 6 3 5 10 — 4 — — 
		
	
	
		
			2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Fines imposed
			 Cruelty to badgers Average fine amount (£) 300 1,466 250 2,000 — — 
			  Number of offenders fined 1 3 2 1 — — 
			  Sum of fines imposed (£) 300 4,398 500 2,000 — — 
			 
			 Not giving up dog for destruction(1) Average fine amount (£) 47 51 51 64 69 78 
			  Number of offenders fined 21 10 7 8 4 4 
			  Sum of fines imposed (£) 987 510 357 512 276 312 
			 
			  Lengths of immediate custodial sentences
			 All offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Up to 3 months 3 — 1 — — — 
			  Include 3 up to 6 months — — — 8 1 1 
			  Total custodial sentences 3 — 1 8 1 1 
			  Notes: 1. The offence of 'Failing to give up a dog for destruction having custody of a dog whilst disqualified' is an offence under the Badger Act (1992) and the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991). It has been included in these figures, although it is not possible to tell which Act was intended when sentencing. 2. The statistics are presented on the principle offence basis, where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principle offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principle offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe. 3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	Data on the collection of fines for specific offences are not held, therefore the answer given shows the sum of all fines imposed for offences relating to the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the actual amount collected is not known. As with all collected fines the receipts are paid into the Consolidated Fund at HM Treasury and are then allocated according to Government spending priorities as part of the spending review process.
	Statistics for 2008 will not be available until Sentencing Statistics 2008 is published in late 2009.

Residence Orders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for residence orders were made during  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007.

Bridget Prentice: The number of applications for residence orders made during 2006 and 2007 are given in the following table. There have been data quality issues with figures for Family Proceedings Courts (FPCs), and a new method of data collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the quality and level of recording on previous years. Comparisons between 2006 and 2007 should therefore be made with caution in this jurisdiction.
	
		
			  Number of Section 8 residence applications made, by whether private or public law and tier of court, 2006 and 2007: England and Wales 
			   Family Proceedings Courts( 1)  County Courts( 2)  High Courts  Total 
			  2006 
			 Public Law 330 288 37 655 
			 Private Law 4,300 28,802 313 33,415 
			  2007 
			 Public Law 250 291 88 629 
			 Private Law 5,100 29,514 210 34,824 
			 (1) There have been data quality issues with figures for FPCs, and a new method of data collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the quality and level of recording on previous years. Pre April 2007, that are weighted estimates based on data from a subset of courts To reflect data uncertainty FPC figures have been rounded. (2) Research undertaken on behalf of Ministry of Justice has identified that some cases that have transferred from the Family Proceedings Court to the County Court have been incorrectly recorded as new applications in the County Court, thus inflating the reported number of new applications through double counting (see Masson et al 2008)  Notes: Figures relate to the number of children subject to each application.  Source: HMCS FamilyMan system and manual returns

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 53W, on the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, if he will place a copy of the report of the recently completed scoping exercise in the Library.

Bridget Prentice: The scoping exercise involved a series of meetings with stakeholders to discuss implementation. The enforcement provisions in the Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007 are far reaching reforms. The provisions have recently undergone a comprehensive reassessment by Ministers to ensure that they remain appropriate even under this difficult financial climate. This assessment has now concluded and a statement will be made shortly.

Driving Standards Agency: Alcoholic Drinks

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1385W, on the Driving Standards Agency: alcoholic drinks, for what reason public money was used to purchase alcohol for staff attending the operations conference in September 2008.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This annual conference gathered together senior management staff from locations across Great Britain to discuss operational issues affecting the Agency. It involved an overnight stay and a dinner was part of the event which allowed staff, who seldom meet together as a group, to continue discussions on issues of the day in a less formal setting. It was considered reasonable to offer limited drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) as part of that meal. The normal subsistence allowance was not paid to attendees.

Electric Vehicles

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of battery-powered motor vehicles purchased in the UK in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of battery-powered vehicles registered in each of the last five years is set out in the following table. This data includes all mechanically-powered vehicles which are required to be registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (VERA), such as passenger cars and quadricycles such as the G-Wizz, but excludes invalid carriages or "mobility scooters". It includes vehicles whose propulsion type is listed as 'electricity' (where the vehicle is powered solely by electricity supplied from an on-board battery) and excludes hybrid vehicles and electric fuel cell vehicles.
	
		
			   Number of new registrations 
			 2004 569 
			 2005 742 
			 2006 922 
			 2007 1,374 
			 2008 1,322 
			 Total 4,929

Asylum: Zimbabwe

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of Zimbabwean nationals resident in the UK  (a) in total and  (b) with (i) asylum seeker status or exceptional leave to remain and (ii) a valid visa or other form of permission on the latest date for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The Office for National Statistics collects data on nationality through the Annual Population Survey (APS). Estimates from the APS for the April 2007 to March 2008 period show that there were 63,000 Zimbabwean nationals in the UK.
	Information is not available from the Home Office on Zimbabwean nationals in the UK  (b) with (i) asylum seeker status or exceptional leave to remain and (ii) a valid visa or other form of permission as a person may leave the UK voluntarily without informing the UK Border Agency.
	Information on immigration and asylum flows are published annually and quarterly and is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in her Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office management information databases do not record sickness information in the form requested and to obtain it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances: EU Countries

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU nationals from each other EU member state have been refused entry into the UK on the grounds that their presence would threaten public safety in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The following table shows the total number of EU and EEA nationals who have been refused admission into the UK since 2004, under regulation 19 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006, on the grounds that their presence would threaten public policy, public security or public health.
	
		
			  Nationality  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  Grand total 
			 Austria — — 1 1 1 3 
			 Belgium — 2 7 15 20 44 
			 Bulgaria — — — 15 10 25 
			 Cyprus — — — — 1 1 
			 Czech Republic — — 7 6 18 31 
			 Denmark — — 2 1 1 4 
			 Estonia — — — 1 — 1 
			 Finland — — — — 3 3 
			 France — 6 26 39 36 107 
			 Germany 1 2 27 31 38 99 
			 Greece — — 2 2 2 6 
			 Hungary — 2 6 3 5 16 
			 Iceland — — 1 — — 1 
			 Ireland — — 1 3 — 4 
			 Italy — 1 10 24 11 46 
			 Latvia — — 7 15 5 27 
			 Lithuania — 3 26 25 29 83 
			 Luxembourg — — — — 1 1 
			 Netherlands — 2 21 53 38 114 
			 Norway — — — 1 1 2 
			 Poland — 3 16 22 27 68 
			 Portugal — 2 18 11 21 52 
			 Romania — — — 63 60 123 
			 Slovakia — 2 6 11 8 27 
			 Slovenia — — 1 1 1 3 
			 Spain — — 4 3 3 10 
			 Sweden — — 6 4 2 12 
			 Grand total 1 25 195 350 342 913 
		
	
	The data provided is based on locally-collated management information, which may be subject to change and does not represent published national statistics.

Immigration: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 819W, on immigration: Peterborough, how many of the 200 other non-EEA nationals were of each nationality; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Holding answer 25 February 2009
	 The following table details the number, by nationality, of 'Other non-EEA nationals' in Peterborough who were awaiting a decision on their leave to remain application as at 15 January 2009 pursuant to the answer given on 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 819W.
	
		
			  Nationality  No. Of Cases 
			 Albania 5 
			 Algeria 5 
			 Angola — 
			 Australia — 
			 Bolivia — 
			 Botswana — 
			 Brazil — 
			 Burundi — 
			 China — 
			 Congo (Democratic Republic) — 
			 Egypt — 
			 Ethiopia — 
			 Yugoslavia — 
			 Gambia(The) — 
			 Georgia — 
			 Ghana — 
			 Guinea-Bissau — 
			 Guyana — 
			 India 10 
			 Iran 5 
			 Jamaica 10 
			 Kazakhstan — 
			 Kenya 5 
			 Kosovo 5 
			 Liberia — 
			 Libya — 
			 Macedonia — 
			 Malawi 5 
			 Malaysia — 
			 Montenegro — 
			 Morocco — 
			 Namibia 5 
			 Nepal — 
			 Nigeria 10 
			 Pakistan 40 
			 Philippines 5 
			 Serbia — 
			 Russia — 
			 Rwanda — 
			 Somalia — 
			 South Africa 10 
			 Sri Lanka — 
			 Thailand — 
			 Turkey 15 
			 Uganda — 
			 Ukraine 5 
			 Tanzania — 
			 United States 5 
			 Zimbabwe 25 
			 Total 195

Immigration: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at which location the UK Border Agency holds paper files on people resident in the administrative area of Peterborough City Council who are applying for indefinite leave to remain; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Holding answer 24 February 2009
	 : All files where an application for indefinite leave to remain is extant and requiring further work are sent to Beddington Cross in London for storage. Files are not held in the regional public enquiry office (PEO) as the team operates a fast turnaround policy for processing applications and therefore file storage is not required.
	Asylum case files remain with individual caseowners until conclusion upon which they are sent to 'layby'. It should be noted however that asylum cases will not be classed as applications for ILR as those granted status are given leave of up to five years after which ILR may or may not be granted.
	All ILR application cases that are concluded are sent to 'layby'; one central source in Canning Town, Unit 3C, East London. Files sent to this location require no further work.

Nuclear Power: Consultants

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1431-2W, on nuclear power: consultants, what role  (a) Mr David Hughes,  (b) Professor John Raine,  (c) Mr Bernard Whittle and  (d) Mr Phillip Woodward have in the generic design assessment.

Jonathan R Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
	Professor David Hughes, Professor John Raine, Mr. Bernard Whittle and Mr. Phillip Woodward are members of the independent Process Review Board set up by the Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations. The purpose of this board is to provide additional assurance to him that appropriate governance processes have been applied during the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process for new nuclear power stations. The full terms of reference for the board can be seen at:
	www.hse.gov.uk/newreactors/terms.htm

Aortic Aneurysms: Screening

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bolton South East of 18 November 2008,  Official Report, column 343W, on aortic aneurysm: screening, when he expects the second stage of the phased implementation of the NHS abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programme to begin; and which NHS trusts will participate in that stage.

Ann Keen: It is anticipated that the next phase of implementation will begin in autumn 2009.
	At this stage no decisions have been made about which national health service trusts will take part in the next phase.

Aortic Aneurysms: Screening

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bolton South East of 18 November 2008,  Official Report, column 343W, on aortic aneurysm: screening, how many NHS trusts  (a) applied to participate in the early implementation phase of the abdominal aortic aneurysms screening programme and  (b) have applied to participate in subsequent phases of the programme.

Ann Keen: 16 national health service trusts applied to take part in the early implementation phase.
	36 trusts have applied to be considered for the next phase of implementation.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 21 May 2008,  Official Report, column 364W, on apprentices, how many apprentices his Department employs.

Ben Bradshaw: Government Skills is planning to prepare a central response based on the numbers participating in the National Apprenticeship Pathfinder in 2008-09. This will be in the form of a table showing participating Departments and number of apprentices on the programme.
	The Department does not employ apprentices as part of the National Apprenticeship Pathfinder scheme. However, three staff are participating in the scheme in 2008-09 as part of their personal development.
	We have also made a commitment in the Next Stage Review to double our investment in apprenticeships by 2012-13, but we aim to go further and faster and we are starting with an additional 5,000 apprenticeships across health and social care next year.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 21 May 2008,  Official Report, column 364W, on apprentices, what progress his Department has made towards meeting its share of the Government's commitment to employ over 1,000 apprentices in central Government Departments and agencies in 2008-09.

Ben Bradshaw: Government Skills is planning to prepare a central response based on the number participating in the National Apprenticeship Pathfinder in 2008-09. This will be in the form of a table showing participating Departments and number of apprentices on the programme.
	The Department is working with Government Skills on this initiative and three staff are participating in the National Apprenticeships Pathfinder during 2008-09 as part of their personal development.
	We have also made a commitment in the Next Stage Review to double our investment in apprenticeships by 2012-13, but we aim to go further and faster and we are starting with an additional 5,000 apprenticeships across health and social care next year.

Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) name and  (b) postcode location of each (i) accident and emergency department, (ii) minor injuries unit and (iii) NHS walk-in centre in England listed on the NHS choices website is.

Ben Bradshaw: The NHS Choices service, launched in June 2007, is the Department's and the national health services primary online service to the public for health-related information and advice. All data records published via NHS Choices are freely available to the public via the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk. This includes listings for 213 accident and emergency departments, 223 minor injury units, and 93 walk-in centres.
	The name and postcode location of each accident and emergency department, minor injuries unit and NHS walk-in centre listed on NHS Choices has been placed in the Library.

Hospital Wards: Gender

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to his announcement of 28 January 2009 on mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS, what definition of sharing of sleeping accommodation or toilet facilities is used in his Department's guidance to trusts;
	(2)  with reference to his announcement of 28 January 2009 on mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS; how many improvement teams there will be; what the size of each team will be; how much will be allocated to each team; what qualifications members of teams will have; and to which hospitals the teams will provide support;
	(3)  with reference to his announcement of 28 January 2009 on mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS, how he plans to create a greater focus on measuring and improving patient experience of mixed-sex accommodation.

Ann Keen: The Government are committed to reducing mixed sex accommodation to an absolute minimum. This means that men and women should not share sleeping accommodation unless this can be justified by their need for treatment. In mental health units, this should never happen.
	We have recently announced a package of measures as follows:
	a £100 million 'Privacy and Dignity Fund' to support improvements—with changes using this money expected to be implemented by no later than June this year;
	tough financial penalties for those hospitals who do not deliver, (to be introduced from 2010-11); and
	the establishment of improvement teams to go into those hospitals that need more support, to help them focus on improving patient experience in this area.
	We know from our success in driving down health care associated infections (HCAIs), that the improvement team approach has a good track record in delivery. We are therefore setting up a short-term central improvement team for mixed sex accommodation with an expected life of around six months. The intention is that thereafter responsibility will be devolved to the NHS. The fine details of who will be employed in the teams, and how they will be deployed will depend on local needs, and are currently being developed.
	Funding from the privacy and dignity fund will not be specifically attached to improvement teams, rather it will be distributed against detailed plans drawn up by each SHA. Distribution of resources within SHAs will be based on those schemes that demonstrate the greatest return for the planned investment.
	Our existing definitions in respect of the environment are still relevant, and are set out below. However, we have expanded this to move towards a definition based on individual patient experience, rather than on buildings.
	It is not acceptable for people to share sleeping accommodation unless it can be clinically justified for each patient. Some of the circumstances in which this might apply are as follows:
	patient needs very high-tech care, with one-to-one nursing (e.g. ICU, HDU);
	patient needs very specialised care, where one nurse might be caring for a small number of patients and cannot safely leave the room other than for very short periods (e.g. immediately following major surgery); and
	patient needs very urgent care (e.g. rapid admission following a heart attack)
	Inevitably, applicability of the above circumstances calls for a fine judgement that needs to be made on an individual basis. For instance, in a four-bed bay, it means that mixing must be justifiable for all patients, not just one. It is also a judgement that needs to be revisited regularly—for example, in the very early stages following a stroke, when the patient has reduced consciousness and needs regular observation, then mixing might be justifiable. However, in the later stages of recovery, when the patient is receiving rehabilitation (or palliative care), then we would expect greater segregation.
	Men and women should not normally have to share sleeping accommodation or toilet facilities. Irrespective of where patients are, staff should always take the utmost care to respect their privacy and dignity.
	Single-sex accommodation can be provided in:
	single-sex wards (i.e. the whole ward is occupied by men or women but not both);
	single rooms with adjacent single-sex toilet and washing facilities (preferably en-suite); and
	single-sex accommodation within mixed wards (i.e. bays or rooms which accommodate either men or women, not both; with designated single-sex toilet and washing facilities preferably within or adjacent to the bay or room).
	In addition, patients should not need to pass through opposite sex accommodation or toilet and washing facilitates to access their own.
	There are no exceptions to delivering high standards of privacy and dignity. The exceptions established under 'Mixed-sex accommodation: Health Service Circular 1998/143' were reporting exceptions only, and no longer apply.

Pharmacy: Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of pharmacy consultations which result in referral to other healthcare services;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of pharmacies which provide an influenza vaccination service;
	(3)  what progress his Department has made towards applying world-class commissioning competencies to the commissioning of pharmaceutical services, as referred to on page 23 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7341;
	(4)  what progress his Department has made in discussions on appropriate measures to support adherence to medicines, as referred to on page 33 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(5)  what progress his Department has made on research to establish the extent to which medicines are not used, as referred to on page 32 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(6)  what methodology was used to calculate the figure of £100 million for the costs of unused and unwanted medicines referred to in his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431; and what estimate he has made of this cost in the last 12 months;
	(7)  what progress his Department has made in developing further incremental implementations of repeat dispensing, as referred to on page 31 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(8)  which primary care trusts commission services from community pharmacies to stock medicines that people may need at the end of their life, as referred to on page 36 of his Department's Pharmacy White Paper, Pharmacy in England, CM 7431;
	(9)  what reasons he has identified for the decline in the number of local enhanced home delivery services commissioned by primary care trusts in England between 2006-07 and 2007-08, as referred to in table 6 of the General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-99 to 2007-08 bulletin;
	(10)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the Public Health Leadership Forum for Pharmacy's work programme for 2008-10, referred to on page 52 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(11)  what progress has been made by NHS Connecting for Health in scoping arrangements for electronically capturing information about  (a) interventions made and  (b) advice given by pharmacists in promoting health lifestyles, as referred to on page 53 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(12)  what progress his Department has made in incorporating minor ailments schemes within the community pharmacy contractual framework since 3 April 2008;
	(13)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which pharmacies have been included in local schemes to help reduce unintended pregnancies, as referred to on page 56 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(14)  what contributions which pharmacies can make to the care of people with diabetes have been identified to date by the National Clinical Director for Diabetes and the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, as referred to on page 58 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm7431;
	(15)  what progress has been made in introducing a support service for people who are newly prescribed a medicine to treat a long-term condition within the community pharmacy contractual framework, as referred to on page 65 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(16)  what steps he is taking to develop  (a) professional and  (b) contractual arrangements to ensure that people with symptoms from cancer are efficiently referred onwards by pharmacists, as referred to on page 67 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(17)  on what dates in 2008 the working group on pharmacy, medical and public representatives referred to on page 74 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431, met; if he will place in the Library a copy of the  (a) agenda for and  (b) minutes from each of the meetings; what progress the working group has made in promoting more effective professional relationships between pharmacists and other healthcare professionals; and if he will make a statement;
	(18)  what progress he has made in planning communications which will  (a) highlight the breadth of services and skills available in pharmacies,  (b) illustrate the role that pharmacies can play in promoting good health,  (c) raise awareness of the knowledge of the role that pharmacies can play in managing long-term conditions and reducing health inequalities and  (d) increase the use of pharmacy services, as referred to on page 72 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431; what the target audience is for each strand of communications; what further qualitative research he has commissioned to develop a better understanding of the particular needs of these audiences as referred to on page 72 of the White Paper; when he plans to introduce the communications programme; what expenditure he estimates his Department will incur on the communications programme in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement;
	(19)  what research the National Institute for Health Research has undertaken into pharmacy since its establishment; and what priorities have been identified for research into pharmacy by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, as referred to on page 78 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(20)  what steps he is taking to utilise the pharmacy network to promote pharmacovigilance, as referred to on page 79 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(21)  what assessment his Department has made of the availability of specialist pharmacy services across England; and if he will make a statement;
	(22)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the workforce planning for pharmacy undertaken to inform the NHS Next Stage Review, as referred to on page 99 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(23)  what progress is being made in reviewing the requirements contained within pharmaceutical needs assessments, as referred to on page 106 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England; when he expects the review to be completed; whether the results of the review will be piloted; if he will make it his policy to ensure that primary care trusts are judged to be competent in conducting pharmaceutical needs assessments prior to doing so; and if he will make a statement;
	(24)  from what date his Department intends to include directed enhanced services within the community pharmacy contractual framework, as referred to on page 109 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England; what progress has been made in deciding which services to include in directed enhanced services; whether he plans to introduce an enhanced services expenditure floor for pharmacy services; and if he will make a statement;
	(25)  what arrangements his Department has put in place to  (a) identify and  (b) address unwarranted variations in standards and quality of pharmacy service delivery, as referred to on page 111 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(26)  what the outcomes were of the annual pharmacy-based audit, as referred to on page 112 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431 in each year since it became operational; what progress has been made in strengthening the clinical audit of pharmacy services; and if he will make a statement;

Phil Hope: Good progress is being made in implementing the White Paper "Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths—delivering the future" to achieve the Government's future vision for pharmaceutical services in this country. The two national clinical directors for pharmacy have been appointed to champion the development of pharmaceutical services and help deliver the White Paper's objectives.
	As chapter 3 of the White Paper sets out, we are keen to improve the way medicines are accessed and used. Research has been commissioned from the universities of York and London to examine the scale and cost of medicines wasted, as well as the complex and varied reasons why people do not take their medicines as intended. The findings are expected later this year and will inform policy development for influencing both health professionals and members of the public to reduce the amount of unwanted medicines and provide value for money for the national health service. The figure of £100 million for the costs of unwanted and unused medicines in the White Paper is no more than a cautious estimate. The 2000 Spending Review stated that "various small scale studies have suggested that the value of medicines returned to pharmacies amounts to 1.5-2 per cent. of the overall drugs bill", which was £5,160 million in 2000-01. No estimate has been made of this cost in the last 12 months.
	The research on the extent and reasons why medicines are not used will also inform measures to support adherence to medicines. These measures will be subject to discussions with key stakeholders and interested parties, taking into account guidance, such as the recently published report from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) "Medicines adherence: Involving patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence" published in January 2009, as well as local enhanced services already being commissioned by primary care trusts (PCTs).
	Information on the services PCTs commission from community pharmacies to stock medicines that people may need at the end of their life is a local enhanced service termed 'on demand availability of specialist drugs' is contained in table 6 of "General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-00 to 2007-08" and a breakdown by PCT is in its online appendix—both of which were published by the Information Centre for health and social care in November 2008. Copies of the documents have already been placed in the Library. Home delivery services are commissioned by PCTs according to patients' needs locally. Many pharmacies voluntarily provide such a service.
	Pharmacists have been established reporters to the yellow card scheme since 1998. They have a particularly important role in detecting and reporting suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in association with over the counter medicines including herbal products and newly reclassified medicines. By the end of January 2009, the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had received in excess of 20,000 reports from the profession, contributing 13 per cent., of all yellow cards annually.
	The MHRA recognises that pharmacists have a crucial role to play in pharmacovigilance, not just in the submission of suspected ADR reports, but also in raising public awareness of patient reporting. Following a successful national campaign to raise awareness of the yellow card scheme in community pharmacies during 2008, there was a 50 per cent. increase in patient reporting and a doubling in online reporting.
	The MHRA is now exploring further use of the pharmacy network in conjunction with the chief pharmaceutical officer for England. To recognise the important role pharmacists play in pharmacovigilance, specific information pages for pharmacists are being launched on the MHRA website at the end of February 2009. These will provide up to date information and guidance on ADR reporting.
	A wider range of services is being commissioned from pharmacies according to local need. Some PCTs are commissioning community pharmacies to provide seasonal influenza vaccination following training and accreditation, to help GPs attain their targets. Information on the proportion of all pharmacies providing this service is not collected centrally. In many parts of the country, pharmacies are one of the main sources of access to emergency hormonal contraception, either through over the counter sales or through the use of patient group directions. In addition, a total of £26.8 million of additional funding has been allocated in 2008-09 to special health authorities (SHAs) and PCTs to improve women's knowledge of, and access to, the full range of contraception, to help reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and abortions. It is for SHAs and PCTs to determine how to use this funding most effectively to meet the needs of their local populations. SHAs have been working with PCTs to agree local action plans to develop innovative schemes, including pharmacy-based schemes, to improve awareness of and access to all types of contraception. The extent to which pharmacies have been included in local schemes to help reduce unintended pregnancies has not been assessed.
	Many pharmacies are already providing services to people with diabetes—ranging from blood glucose testing and carrying out blood pressure measurements to providing healthy lifestyle advice. The Department is working with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the National Pharmacy Association to develop resources to support the further integration of pharmacy into the care of people with diabetes, which will be endorsed by the national clinical director for diabetes and the chief pharmaceutical officer for England. These resources, expected to be completed by autumn 2009, will identify how pharmacy can play its part in the integrated care of people with diabetes to help ensure that patients get seamless care.
	Pharmacists also have an important role in raising awareness of symptoms of cancer. The Department has funded leaflets containing key messages on lung cancer awareness, which will be distributed to all community pharmacies shortly. The Department will be discussing with key stakeholders and interested parties, how best to incorporate referral systems for people with symptoms indicative of cancer, within the community pharmacy contractual framework. The Department is also considering how to engage pharmacists further in raising awareness of other cancers and referring on to other healthcare professionals, where appropriate.
	The introduction of a support service for people who are newly prescribed a medicine to treat a long-term condition will be informed by ongoing discussions with key stakeholders and interested parties, as will the incorporation of minor ailments schemes within the community pharmacy contractual framework. Both services will take account of local enhanced services already being commissioned by PCTs, research into public awareness and knowledge, and will be subject to further negotiation. Similarly, the use of directed enhanced services within the community pharmacy contractual framework is subject to further discussions and negotiations taking into account local enhanced services already being commissioned by PCTs.
	No estimate has been made of the proportion of pharmacy consultations, which result in referrals to other healthcare services, as this information is not collected centrally.
	In keeping with the NHS next stage review, pharmacy has an important role in prevention, as well as treatment. The public health leadership forum for pharmacy has identified its work programme for 2008-09 as the development of educational resources on sustainable development, sexual health and mental health for distribution to all community pharmacies in England. Resources for sustainable development were published and distributed in September 2008. The resources for sexual health and mental health are expected to be published by the end of 2009. The Forum has agreed that its programme of work for 2009-10 will consist of:
	developing a model for healthy living centre pharmacies, which will identify the services that might be provided as well as what such pharmacies might look like;
	taking steps to enable pharmacy staff to become health trainers; and
	facilitating the development of a plan to develop leadership training for senior pharmacists working within PCTs so they can influence commissioning decisions.
	Initial scoping of the extent of the provision of specialist pharmacy services across England has been completed and advice is being sought from the specialist commissioning group directors network and the national specialist commissioning group on the commissioning of these services.
	These developments need to be underpinned by effective professional relationships, communications and information technology. The Department asked NHS employers in 2008 to convene and lead a working group of pharmacy, medical and public representatives to formulate a series of actions to promote more effective professional relationships. Further details of the working group are held by NHS employers. One aspect of the group's remit was to identify and agree mechanisms that can support further incremental implementation of repeat dispensing. In January 2009, the working group published "Guidance for the implementation of repeat dispensing" for general practices, to support this. A copy has been placed in the Library. In addition, the working group have published guidance for general practices on the medicines use review service, and have issued a joint letter to community pharmacists, general practitioners and their local representatives to help facilitate discussions between general practitioners GPs and pharmacists on key work areas including repeat dispensing. The three documents can be found at:
	www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/primary-211.cfm.
	To support communication planning the Department commissioned an extensive qualitative research programme in September 2008 that was completed, as scheduled, in December. The research identified key segments within the population and gave insight into their differing uses of, and attitudes towards, pharmacy. The Department is considering the implications of these findings for the communications programme and expects to publish the research together with an outline communications plan later this spring. Further qualitative research is being commissioned by the Department on the opinions of the pharmacy profession towards delivering the services outlined in the White Paper. This research will be completed by this summer. £65,000 has been spent in 2008-09 to date on the research to support the communications programme. Estimates for future years' expenditure are not yet available.
	A pharmacy information technology programme is being established by the Department and NHS Connecting for Health. One of its first responsibilities will be to progress the White Paper commitment to electronically capture information about interventions made and advice given, by pharmacists.
	Structural and legislative reform is also needed and the Department consulted on a number of proposals in autumn 2008, including PCTs assessing pharmaceutical needs. A preliminary report of the outcome of that consultation on those elements which require changes to the primary legislation was published on 16 January 2009 alongside the Health Bill 2009. The Bill proposes placing a requirement on PCTs to undertake and to publish their assessments of pharmaceutical needs. Subject to parliamentary approval, regulations would then set out the structure and content of these assessments, how PCTs should carry them out and the requirements for publication. The Department expects to work closely with interested parties, including NHS and contractors' representatives, on drafting the regulations. At this stage, the Department does not propose to pilot these requirements, but to roll them out across PCTs with appropriate support and training programmes.
	The Department asked NHS Employers to set up a short-term working group in 2008 to review the structure of, and data requirements for, PCTs pharmaceutical needs assessments and to develop a support programme so that these assessments will be an effective and robust commissioning tool, which support local decisions. NHS employers published the first element of this support programme—"Guidance for PCTs on pharmaceutical needs assessments (PNAs) as part of world class commissioning", which has been prepared to dovetail with the world-class commissioning programme—on 7 January 2009. A copy has been placed in the Library. It is available at:
	www.nhsemployers.org/PNAguidance.
	Further resources will be published later this spring. These will include guidance on how to commission pharmaceutical services and more detailed advice on the information these needs assessments should contain. These resources are designed to provide a comprehensive support programme for PCTs to achieve the necessary capability to be world-class commissioners of high quality pharmaceutical services.
	The Department is committed to continuing to work with the NHS and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee to devise proposals to ensure that effective arrangements are in place to address unwarranted variations in standards and quality of pharmaceutical service delivery. Following consultation last autumn, provisions in the Health Bill 2009 will, subject to parliamentary approval, introduce new powers to enable PCTs, through regulations, to issue remedial notices to contractors or to withhold payments due to them. These new powers will form part of the Department's programme to ensure appropriate discretionary levers are available to PCTs to secure quality pharmaceutical services and to manage contractors' performance. Subject to discussions with key stakeholders and negotiation, this will be supported by strengthening the clinical governance requirements of the contractual framework which already require amongst other things, contractors to carry out an annual patient survey and one pharmacy-based and one multi-disciplinary audit. These audits are undertaken locally and no data is held on them centrally.
	Research to inform future developments and an appropriate pharmacy workforce are also important. Research into pharmaceutical services is a relatively new area. Its focus has largely been on the acceptability and uptake of services by the public and on perceptions of the profession and their job satisfaction. Measures to date have largely been expressed in terms of inputs and outputs, rather than in terms of service quality, outcomes and relative cost effectiveness.
	Therefore, chapter 6 of the White Paper sets out action by the chief pharmaceutical officer for England to convene an expert panel to advise on research priorities to improve the evidence base underpinning the value and effectiveness of pharmacy services.
	This will be informed by:
	the extensive and ongoing qualitative research programme commissioned through the pharmacy White Paper;
	the ongoing composite review of the relevant research literature on the contribution of community pharmacy to improving the public's health, covering the period 1990-2007, which will be completed and published in due course; and
	the outcome of an event hosted by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust, held on the 5 and 6 November 2008, to which the chief pharmaceutical officer for England contributed. The event was designed to begin to develop a UK wide research strategy for pharmacy and brought together key stakeholders across pharmacy and academia to initiate discussions around the concept of an overarching profession led UK wide research strategy for pharmacy.
	Pharmacy workforce planning forms part of the arrangements to strengthen workforce planning for all professions set out in "A High Quality Workforce", published in July 2008. A copy has been placed in the Library. The chief pharmaceutical officer for England has established the modernising pharmacy careers programme board to provide professional advice and scrutiny on workforce plans where these concern pharmacists and other pharmacy staff (for example pharmacy technicians) providing NHS services. The pharmacy professional advisory board will work closely with Medical Education, England, which will provide professional, high level scrutiny of and advice on the quality of workforce planning at a national level for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and healthcare scientists. Arrangements are in place for the modernising pharmacy careers programme board's first meeting in February 2009

Vioxx

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department  (a) has undertaken,  (b) plans to undertake and  (c) has evaluated on (i) the side-effects of (A) Vioxx, (B) SSRI antidepressants and (C) Salmeterol and (ii) the use of complementary and alternative medicines to treat the conditions such drugs were developed to address; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: As with all medicines authorised in the United Kingdom, the safety of Vioxx (a selective COX-2 inhibitor for the treatment of arthritic conditions and acute pain), the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and salmeterol (a long-acting adrenoceptor beta agonist, or LABA, used in the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) are kept under close and continuous scrutiny by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) using a wide variety of data sources. These include spontaneous adverse drug data from the UK and worldwide, clinical trials and epidemiological studies, worldwide published medical literature, data from the manufacturer and information from worldwide regulatory authorities.
	If a new safety issue is identified, the MHRA thoroughly evaluates all relevant data with input from UK and European Expert Advisory Committees, as necessary. Action is taken where appropriate to minimise risk to patients, optimise safe use and issue updated prescribing advice.
	Vioxx (rofecoxib) was voluntarily withdrawn by the manufacturers in 2004 when the risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events became apparent. Although no formal research was undertaken directly by the Department, all available safety information was continuously evaluated by the MHRA as it emerged. Throughout these reviews, additional data and analyses were requested from the company where necessary to facilitate thorough assessment. Product information for prescribers and patients was updated during the course of these reviews, in line with expert advice.
	In response to public concern, in May 2003, an Expert Working Group was established to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the available data relating to the safety of SSRI antidepressants, in particular, the risk of suicidal behaviour and withdrawal reactions. The Expert Group considered the findings of laboratory, clinical and observational studies along with information relating to reports of patient experiences. In relation to the risk of suicidal behaviour, the MHRA conducted a study using the UK General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Full information on the data considered as part of this review has been published in the group's report which is available on the MHRA's website at:
	www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Safetywarningsalertsandrecalls/Safetywarningsandmessagesformedicines/CON1004259
	A copy has been placed in the Library.
	Since completion of this review, every effort has been made by the MHRA to evaluate new data as it has arisen and issue updated prescribing advice as appropriate. This has included updated advice regarding safety of use of paroxetine in pregnancy following findings from new international studies that certain birth defects are more common in babies whose mothers took paroxetine early in pregnancy. Further advice has also been issued regarding the risk of suicidal behaviour to reflect the findings of review of data from clinical trials conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration.
	The MHRA has evaluated the risk of side effects associated with use of salmeterol on a number of occasions, leading to updates to product information and communications to remind health care professionals of the appropriate use of LABAs in the treatment of asthma. The balance of risks and benefits of LABAs was recently reviewed and considered to be favourable in the treatment of asthma in adults and adolescents, provided they are used with inhaled corticosteroids.
	The MHRA have not received any applications for marketing authorisations for complementary or alternative medicines for the treatment of major conditions such as osteoarthritis or asthma, therefore the MHRA has not undertaken or evaluated any research in this area. The MHRA do not have any specific plans to undertake such research but would assess all data associated with any application, should one be received in the future.
	Some years ago, the MHRA considered a number of applications for marketing authorisations for products containing St. John's Wort ('Hypericum perforatum' L.) for mild to moderate depression. The data submitted by the companies intending to market the products, including any UK and international research, was thoroughly reviewed. However, the applications were refused due to lack of adequate evidence of safety and efficacy.

Departmental Vehicles

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1068-9W, on departmental vehicles, what the cost of leasing the vehicles was in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The Department's expenditure on leased vehicles, excluding Agencies and Executive NDPBs, in the last five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Expenditure (£) 
			 2007-08 42,827 
			 2006-07 24,277 
			 2005-06 43,005 
			 2004-05 59,361 
			 2003-04 65,633 
		
	
	Where possible, when a lease is up for renewal, the NIO considers all options in reducing costs to the department while maintaining the standard required.

National Lottery: Complaints

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 984W, on National Lottery: complaints, what information is routinely collected by Camelot and the National Lottery Commission on disputes between retailers and players.

Barbara Follett: Complaints to the National Lottery Commission are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It would not be possible to establish how many of the cases dealt with have involved a dispute between a player and retailer without a manual review of the correspondence for each case. This task could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
	The information routinely collected for any complaint or inquiry received by the Commission is:
	a. Information required for NLC performance monitoring and reporting.
	b. Correspondent contact details.
	c. A brief description of the nature of the inquiry or complaint.
	d. A note of the action taken.
	e. Correspondence and supporting information.
	Camelot has advised us that all player complaints are also recorded and dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The information collected varies according to the case in question.

Banks: Finance

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what capital adequacy ratio banks are required to maintain.

Ian Pearson: The capital adequacy ratio is the ratio of a bank's capital expressed as a percentage of its risk-weighted assets.
	The regulatory minimum ratio derives from the Basel 2 Accord, implemented in the European Union via the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) which came into force on 1 January 2008 (Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC). The framework consists of three pillars. Pillar 1 sets the minimum capital requirements required to meet credit, market and operational risks. Pillar 2 requires firms and supervisors (in this case the Financial Services Authority—FSA) to take a view on whether a firm should hold additional capital against risks not covered in Pillar 1. Pillar 3 requires firms to publish certain details of their capital and risk management.
	Full details of these capital requirements can be found in FSA "GENPRU" and "BIPRU" rulebooks, available via the FSA's website.
	The regulatory minimum capital adequacy ratio under Pillar 1 is 8 per cent. of total capital; of which a minimum of 4 per cent. must be tier 1 capital, which includes ordinary shares and reserves. In practice firms' regulatory capital may be higher than this, and firms may also decide to hold more capital than the regulatory minimum.
	As the FSA made clear in its statement of 19 January, the purpose of the recent bank recapitalisation exercise was to ensure that participating institutions held sufficient capital to ensure a buffer against challenging economic conditions. This did not constitute creating new statutory capital requirements for the UK banking sector.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letter of 7 January 2009 on his constituent Mr D. Randall.

Ian Pearson: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letter of 14 January 2009 on his constituent Mr D. Williams.

Ian Pearson: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letters of 17 November 2008 and 22 January 2009 on his constituent Mrs N. Finley.

Stephen Timms: I replied to the hon. Member on 14 January.

PICT: Electronic Equipment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission when the trial of use of Blackberrys by PICT staff will be completed.

Nick Harvey: Parliamentary ICT (PICT) commenced a 60 day trial of Research in Motion's Blackberry service using their Blackberry Enterprise Service on 9 February 2009. The trial will be completed by mid-April and will then be evaluated.